new thread
How many of you have been told that Long hair was not
"professional" looking or had any other issues when
seeking employment or while employed?
how did you deal with it?
I've worked for the same company since 1986 and have only
had two complaints about my hair. All these yaars later it
is still long. When i got the complaints I proceeded to ignore them.
HTW, there is one other guy in the company with long hair (shoulder lengh).
I've never had a complaint. I had a mohawk in the 80s, and all my boss said was, "As long as it's not green..."
I've never been told face to face. I've always had a feeling that my look has not gotten me very far, especially for retail jobs.
My reaction to that has been to try and set up my own business.
Neil.
I actually walked out on one job after I was told my hair had to be cut so that it was off the ears and shirt collar once.
I told them this job doesn't pay enough to warrant me getting such a short haircut and if they want G.Q. Yuppie types than they should pay what those types actually make, not minimum wage!!!
Incidentally, it was a fast food chain.
There must be some discrimination law against that type attitude. Although, I'm sure that you feel no loss for walking out on that job. :)
Neil.
In the DC Human Rights Act, "appearance" is a protected class, and is defined to include "hair style".
Article 10 of the European Human Rights Act protects "self expression".
Other statutes than those that protect long hair I am not aware of, except where long hair is part of a religion, which usually only helps Sikhs and Native Americans.
So if you are in the US, and don't belong to one of the above groups, you have no case unless you are in Washington DC.
In fact I was recently turned down for a job in DC and the main interviewer asked me why I had long hair. Rule one in interviewing is you don't ask questions involving a "protected class", and that's what he did.
It's arguable that I may well have a good case, but the rub is, I would have to be bothered to actually sue them. If I didn't already have a decent job, or if it would have paid vastly more than I earn now, I might have considered it, but ...
In Europe, the issue is that the European law may be interpreted differently in each country. Only England, Wales and Ireland (both parts) follow the English common law system, where past cases set precedents for later ones, and the English precedents so far don't look as hopeful as they should.
The rest of Europe follows the Roman civil law system, where theoretically each judge gets to interpret the statute from scratch each time a new case is heard.
I would think it was obvious that being allowed to have long hair was part of self expression, but the problem is that judges have an average age of 93 (just kidding, but they do tend to be ancient fogeys).
Disclaimer - I'm not actually a lawyer!
Do you happen to know if any other areas of the U.S. have similar laws?
I think you just answered my question. <-(
SUE THEM!!!
exactly. no one should mandate hair length
AND personal hygiene should not have anything to do with how long or short your hair is. some employers equate personal hygiene with keeping the hair short for male employees which is erroneous.
well, neither am I! lOL!
I have a feeling that down here in Florida if a guy has really long hair ,people look at them like there anarchist.employers have wide discretion on employee who ever they want, and at this particular time in history where i live , a long haired white male is not a protected class. I wait say anymore about that lest i offend. James/Tampa,Fl
Yes, I've been informed about how the resorts are down there especially at Disney World where even facial hair is NOT allowed
perhaps you should reconsider relocating to another state such as Texas where it's not such a big deal!
i would never leave florida, its my home, and i would be prepared an am prepared to use extreme violence to support my human rights.right here James/Tampa,Fl
Well, it appears to me that y`all are going through what we had to endure back in the 1960s here in Texas and change does not happen overnight, nor with a handful of people.
perhaps you should present your gripe to the state legislature and try to get some law passed to stop this sort of discrimination.
it just does not make sense to me(I read your other post) why someone could wear dreads in the workplace and you can't wear your hair long. that is total asinine imho!
I think you have a case there and should get some local support and make it an issue. the more people you can get to join you in your fight the better chance you will have to change discriminatory laws.
my suggestion is to contact this lady for starters
http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/
good luck!