new thread
Hai friends
First of all sorry for a long post
I work for a multinational firm in Asia. I am a guy with long hair , actually quite long - may be around 32.5 inches. I work in Management Information System department. The company has recently from jan -08 come out with hair dress codes . The dress codes are not gender specific, but it only says that long hair has to be secured either by way of a bun style or with a long plait duly secured by hair pins and rubber bands. The new dress codes possibly coincides with the arrival of a new hr head. I usually sport a long ponytail or just hide my hair inside the shirt. Now with the revised hair dress codes, i am finding it difficult to sport a high bun with clips to ensure that the hair is secure or to sport a long plaits- even though i enjoy these things when iam with my wife. Now when i have it to do it regularly in the office - i am not sure how comfortable i would be. I have been sporting a big bun with lot of clips much to my discomfort since the rule has come in play. My friends in the office ask me not to care about it much and they encourage me to sport plaits instead of buns. I am the only male with long hair and i doubt whether this was targeted at me. The HR head also suggested that i might possibly look better with shorter hair styles. My other friends has hinted me that he has passed offensive remarks about me on the new year celeberations day when the gathering was informal and i had my hair loose and when my wife was also present.
Now i am not very good at styling my own hair - more so relevant with plaits and buns. My wife wants me to not to get discouraged and says that she can dress up my hair till iam comfortable doing it myself. I find the issue very silly but it gets on to my nerves. The last two days i went to the office with plaits and the HR head remarked that he mistook me for a female employee.
Can the forum advise me on handling such issues or shoudl i take it up with the management. On one side i find the issue too silly and on the other side i find it an issue to handle it on a daily basis
I'm sorry to hear about this new rule, to bad we longhairs are part of discrimination.
I suggest just to listen to him and wear buns or a plaid, it's only for the work hours , the rest of the day and in the weekend you can wear your hair how you like!
You don't tell us which part of Asia which could be critical - Singapore versus Hong Kong where attitudes can be very different but I would be tempted to take it up with your MD. A tidy ponytail is more than acceptable and complies with the thrust of these silly rules.
Comapnies can dictate such things and in the US unless you belong to a union we have what is called emplyoment at will in other words they can fire you for any reason....almost any reason excluding race, gender, age, etc. As UK said it varies depending on what country your in but I would be low key about it and inquire if it would not be acceptable to be grandfathered in, as the policy was enacted after you have been there for some time. That way you could still wear your pony tail.
Good luck
Kevin