new thread
Does anyone know if you get less of a hassle from bosses in civil service jobs?
I noticed a guy working at the post office with long hair tied back,
so I've been wondering about this.
Or does the amount of hassle you get just
depend on who the boss is?
Thanks.
CIVIL SERVICE
CIVIL SERVICE
I have worked for NY and NC civil service but not the Fed. I think you will find that rules are very relaxed as long as you come to work on time, clean and neat, and do your job. Usually you have to work 6 months to achieve "permanent status," rather than "provisional," but once you have crossed that barrier they can get rid of you only for cause.
Like drug testing, the government has no right inside your body -- this is called unreasonable search, so you will notice that except in the military the government stays out of your body. However the government can pressure private industry to do testing, even though it has never proven effective in reducing accidents or increasing performance -- becaause the logic here is that you are working for company X voluntarily and if you do not like their rules you can look elsewhere.
The discerning observer will notice that the political party which says it wants Big Government out of our lives is also the party that wants to examine your urine, tell you what herbs you can grow in your yard, and whether you can reverse accidental fertalizations. What they mean, I think, is that government should stay out of the way of corporations who may polute the environment or offer defective products or services -- I think they call this deregularion. Hair they are not paying much attention to.
James
(snip)
I wouldn't trust either of the "TWO PARTIES" to safeguard my right to "grow it and show it" (hair, that is). The only reason they aren't paying much attention to hair is that the folks with the shears and clippers in their hands don't make big political contributions.
Absolutely True.
One of the postal workers I see all the time I'm in our local office behind the window selling stamps has this explosion of dreadlocks half way down his back. some days he's got them pull back and tied in a big fat mass at the back of his neck and other days he has them hanging loose and wild. The other day when I was in there I saw his mug shot up there with a broad smile accross his face as employee of the month so I guess his hair wasn't an obstacle.
YesterdaywhenI went into our city buildlng department I got his inspector behind the desk who had a big overgrown afro that he was working on braiding. When I interrupted him to ask about filing for our garage he asked me to wait until he finished "doin' his row." I got ticked off, being asked to wait while he coiffed his hair and so I asked this manager type, older fellow who walked by. You know what his response was - it ticked me off - but it makes your point - he said " The man told you to wait a minute till he finished his cornrow. Are you rude or hard of hearing?" I was so embarrassed I just waited. But later i was and am very mad about the whole thing. cornrows
It is definitely much more relaxed in government than private industry. I'm an engineer for the feds, with mid-back length hair worn in a ponytail or braid. In my office we have a couple African-American employees with cornrow braids and another employee with a ponytail. Bear in mind, we have less than 80 employees, of whom about 3/4 are female, so that's a pretty high incidence of long hair. In my book, it definitely makes up for the slightly lower pay than in private industry.