Legal question regarding employment and tattoos

superconor

Can a workplace refuse you a job based on your physical appearance? For example tattoos on your forearms etc? I work in Dunnes part time and people are always surprised the managers have told me to do something about my appearance (I have no tattoos or piercings but I have long hair and a beard) which got me thinking as to the actualy legality of the whole concept. Thank you.

PS Hoping to get my first tattoo this week/next week - will post up pictures when I do!

Le Rack

I don't think they can legally but it's down to public perception and prejudice etc, someone sees a guy with tattooed hands they tend to think druggie or some crap like that, as for the hair, if you keep it tied up and tidy they can't say anything, I just started part time in dunnes myself and they say you can't have facial piercings, or "extravagant" hair, but one of the other girls in training had a facial piercing and one of the girls over me has short mad spikey hair so that doesn't seem to be a problem but tatts might...

Sabre0001

If they were denying you a job they may not necessarily say that it is because of your appearence (this could be the real reason however)...

If you are worried about getting fired, they can't dismiss you without verbal and written warnings unless you do something seriously wrong. With long hair and beard you should just try to look neat and tidy, don't see anything wrong with this kind of appearence; different if you look scruffy and wear unwashed uniform and things like that...

superconor

I was only really including the hair thing anecdotally but thanks anyway. My hair and beard are always clean, and I tie it up most of the time. If I was on the Deli I know it would be a different story with the beard though...
It's not Dunnes I'm worried about, any future jobs I will have will probably be graduate work and I am wondering if they can legally refuse me the job, or fire me if they see tattoos.

truthinwords

I've seen loads of staff with visible tattoos in Dunnes.

aido182

I dont think they can fire you cos of the tattoos but to be honest if they dont like them, they can try other ways of getting rid of you. The most likely would be some sort of uniform or dress code rules.

amazingemmet

They can choose not to hire you based on you having tattoos. Personally i kinda agree with that being the rules as it works for people on both sides of the industry and has to do with how you want your business represented

SplashBack

Personally, I don't know if there is any specific legislation in Ireland surrounding the whole appearance in work thing but there is in the EU overall which Ireland must enforce. You cannot be hired/fired/passed over for promotion etc based solely on your appearance, religion, sexual orientation, marital status etc. In reality however, there are some companies who will come up with another reason (afterall that's what they pay the interviewers for ) Piercings and tattoos are fine but there is no point in taking yourself out of the employment pool in an area where you really want to forge your career. I have both visible forearm tattoos and facial piercings and the company where I am employed have no problem with them as long as I dress smartly, I do however try to cover up my tattoos when I can as I deal with many people from different cultures and I know there are certain connotations that would isolate me from these people based on my tattoos, and given that my job entails constant interaction with students from around the world, I need them to be comfortable talking with me. This however is not my chosen career, I'm lucky in that what I want to do, appearance doesn't really matter but professionalism, courtesy and a neat appearance go a long way in helping you to secure the job you want. I have never been refused a job based on my appearance but there are ways to protect yourself from discrimination based on appearance etc. You should check out the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for more info.

Lockstep

superconor wrote: »

Can a workplace refuse you a job based on your physical appearance? For example tattoos on your forearms etc? I work in Dunnes part time and people are always surprised the managers have told me to do something about my appearance (I have no tattoos or piercings but I have long hair and a beard) which got me thinking as to the actualy legality of the whole concept. Thank you.

PS Hoping to get my first tattoo this week/next week - will post up pictures when I do!

I used to work for Dunnes, roughly half the men there had visible tattoos, usually on the forearm. I was asked to take out my earrings whereas women were allowed facial tattoos.

Poliitcal correctness gone mad

Khannie

Sabre0001 wrote: »

they can't dismiss you without verbal and written warnings unless you do something seriously wrong.

....or are considered a part time worker

... or are there under 6 months in full time employment

If you keep your hair tidy, there's no problem with a man having a beard. Still though, if you fit the categories above, just be aware that you have almost no legal standing.

garthv

Heh, really don't think this belongs in this forum,
You would get a better answer in the Legal forums.

Reku

garthv wrote: »

Heh, really don't think this belongs in this forum,
You would get a better answer in the Legal forums.

Wouldn't bet on it, posted there a bit when it started up and TBH most of them seemed to be clueless to the real application of and actual wording of the laws and prefered to deal in hypothetical things (e.g. the legalities of having sex with your dead dog) which will probably never really come up in court here in Ireland and as such no one could really say "no, you're wrong, see the judgement from this case:....". Some less day to day legal stuff they were completely clueless on (e.g. firearms laws, and what is defined as a firearm and what needs a license, I had to know the exact laws and application as I was a member of an archery club and as you can imagine none of us wanted to suddenly find ourselves in trouble with the law), and tried to claim that they were X and as such I should just shut up and bugger off, they're right and I'm wrong regardless of what the club and the national assosication had been told by various actual legal sources, & completely ignoring any points I made. Basically seemed to just be a bunch of rather arrogant ....... (insert derogatory term of your chosing). I've seen more sensible legal talk in AH, and that really says something (:eek: that's a bit scary too considering the average AH post:rolleyes:...). You'd have better chances if you were to rummage through the actual laws yourself:
Irish Statute Book, online resource for Irish laws maintained by the office for the attorney general


The legal forums may have improved since then, but to be honest I doubt it very much unless someone high up in the actual courts system came in as a mod as opposed to some law students.