aphemia

Thank you. You are my dream employee, all hard work & no bs. Let me know if you ever need work in Houston. ;)

Apparently you only partially read my post. MANY of my friends, including my very best friends, are covered in tattoos. So no, I don't dislike people with them. In fact, I consider the employee I'm writing about a friend which is why it's twice as frustrating that she got a tattoo where she did and put me in an awkward position as her boss. I have a tattoo, which does stay covered when I want it to. I am the boss of the people I've written about. I am the one who hires & fires when the owners decide it's necessary. I am not "going after" anyone - I didn't do anything to the person who just got the tattoo, but in my opinion her decision was in poor taste and she knew it. I am also the one who hired the person who decided to let her chest-tattoo hang out along with her boobs-- do you really think her chest was hanging out at her interview!? I didn't come here to argue, just to put the POV out there. Sorry you disagree, but no need to personally attack me as someone with "issues." I don't agree with the stigma surrounding tattoos, but we can't pretend it doesn't exist. I made the personal decision to allow myself as many opportunities as possible by having the ability to conceal mine.

I have no desire for recourse, I'm just frustrated. Also, I -am- HR and I work directly with the owners. I actually consider her a good employee and I don't plan on doing anything, but still think it was crappy to put me in this position in the case that the owners DO want it addressed when they see it. They are the ones who had me address the girl who had her entire chest hanging out at the reception desk and I had to spend two days finding legal verbage and preparing a page-long draft for her to sign. Of course, I instantly became the bad guy. It shouldn't have to come to that. Employees making these decisions that put the entire office policy in jeopardy are selfish! It sucks for the employer AND the employee to create that tension. As for adding an addendum, all that does is create a work environment that needs to be micromanaged which spoils the relaxed environment for every single other person in the office. We have a very short policy which only covers the basics and we get away with a lot here compared to most corporate environments (because we DON'T have a strict policy!) but if people keep pushing it to where we NEED addendums for everything and have to specify "Yes you can have a tattoo HERE, but not THERE" it's going to make it a crappy, micro-managed environment for everyone. No one wants that. It's a person's individual responsibility to know their workplace and know where to draw the line. If a company simply states "business casual" as their dress code, that can be interpreted differently to every individual. Let's say someone starts wearing jeans, no big deal. Then a guy wears golf shorts one day, no problem. Then suddenly someone shows up in booty shorts because they saw 'someone else' wearing shorts. We shouldn't have to create an addendum that says "No booty shorts."

I found this thread because I'm kind of struggling with this right now. An employee just got a wrist tattoo that is driving me nuts, because we've had conversations about displaying them at work in the past and I feel like it's a slap in the face. In my personal life I appreciate alternative lifestyles and most of my friends are heavily tatted. I got a corporate office job at the age of 16 and worked my a$$ off to become the Controller 11 years later. I've had all different colors in my hair, I used to have my septum pierced and have a tattoo of my own on my back - however -- at work I dress conservatively and I'm totally ok with that because *I* know who I am. I don't come to work to 'express myself' - I come to get a job done for the company paying my salary and don't need the extra judgement or distractions from my performance. The piercing never showed, I keep my hair darkish brown/black, and my tattoo doesn't show unless I wear a particular type of shirt. Here is my issue... I actually like tattoos, but everyone's perception of what is 'acceptable' in the workplace will be different. It's easiest for companies to have a no-tatt policy. If you let one person go around with a visible tattoo on their arms, but tell another to cover theirs on their breasts (which they purposely have hanging out just to display that tattoo) it creates a negative situation. If you let one person show off their country's flag, but not a confederate flag-- that creates drama. If you let someone show off a picture of their Mom but not of a risqué pinup, it creates drama. It shouldn't be the responsibility of your boss to HAVE to tell you to cover it when it's deemed unacceptable. We, as bosses, shouldn't have to go around "inspecting" everyone. There will always be one bad apple to ruin it for everyone, I can guarantee that. (The boob situation mentioned is a true story, of a person sitting up front behind glass doors greeting everyone. Sorry- not acceptable in a corporate office.) Obviously, I have nothing against the tattoos themselves, but I am against displaying them in the workplace for reasons such as that. A lot of people on this thread feel that it's due to judgement from their peers or bosses -- but I have to disagree. The picture is much larger than that. The owners here and myself couldn't care less, but we have hundreds of International (and very conservative) customers who come into our office all the time and if THEY don't like what they see, or feel that it's an unprofessional environment, we could potentially lose that business to a competitor. Some may not care, others might! But is it worth the risk? You may be the most awesome person in the world, but it must be exhausting trying to prove that all the time. Unfortunately, we don't always get the chance to divulge our souls to each person we meet. Why make it harder on yourself? Frankly, I got more pleasure out of being the person I am -inside- and making it to where I have in the corporate world. Way more gratifying than showing a tattoo. Plus, there are a billion OTHER places to get ink that won't be hanging out all the time -so no one is saying you can't have the tattoo - just think it over first. You just have to decide if it's worth the risk. Like it or not, if you find your dream job and they DONT allow tattoos -- then what? I would also say it depends what you want to do as a career--but generally the corporate world is not the place. I don't think this will be the popular opinion on a tattoo blog, but hopefully you'll understand my pov. :)