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Hi folks,
I just spotted this in the new employee handbook, which is a big let down.....
I had just gotten my beard past 5 inches, and my ponytail to 11 inches... I don't know how strict they will be, but for now I will have to trim a lot off the beard, (not totally), and possibly wear a bun. My hairs grows very slowly and I don't want to have to stop now..... (last hair cut 11/2009)...
Anyone else dealing with things like this recently?
Best wishes to all... The Spaf Man
By the way.... I forgot to mention.....that I was told by coworkers, to act my age and cut the ponytail.....
... The Spaf Man
Hi Spaf Man, I am sorry to hear of your situation. I think if you cut your hair you will regret it a lot, especially after it has taken so long to grow. You can try tie it up so it's always neat and just ride it out. Maybe in a few months time it will all blow over and they will have moved on to some other stupid thing to keep themselves occupied and feel important. All the best, Lance
Well you can tell your colleagues to act their age as well and stop sticking their noses in others' personal lives. With maturity comes empathy and compassion... obviously not something these colleagues have achieved yet.
Aghh...
Anyways, I think Lance's suggestion is probably the best for now. Try to trim the beard significantly (after all, that thing grows like a wildfire, no need to stress about it), and keep your hair tightly bunned while at work... should prevent it from being in your eyes or touching your shoulders, thus not violating any rules the company has.
Now if their rules are different for men and women.. well, that would put me in a really hard spot, as I would seriously reconsider working for such a twisted company.
Good luck, buddy!
At the ripe old age of 60 i'm going to act my age and keep the long hair long. It will remain long until the day I die.
Judgemental SOBs - that's all... act your age. Really?
Not sure if you mentioned this before, but in this post in particular you are not saying what kind of work you will be doing.
That will give us a clear picture to understand why they request their employees to keep their personal image this way.
Hi Dave, I work in healthcare, but I am not actually a care giver.... Thanks....The Spaf Man
Hi folks I just spotted this in the new employee handbook, which is a big let down.I had just gotten my beard past 5 inches, and my ponytail to 11 inches... I don't know how strict they will be, but for now I will have to trim a lot off the beard, (not totally), and possibly wear a bun. My hairs grows very slowly and I don't want to have to stop now..... (last hair cut 11/2009)...The Spaf Man
Hi Spaffy - yes = the health / people / care fields of work can be strict with dress codes & personal appearance - I wouldn't do anything drastic until someone with authority over you tells you specifically to cut or trim - in the mean-time bun the pony to make it less obvious, leave the beard its magnificent ... cheers bud CEM.
It occurs to me, on reading this stuff, that phrasing it in such a way as not to force women to cut their hair, they don't specify that men have to style their hair by cutting. That leaves men with the right to style their hair by (for example) tying it up to keep it off the collar. The writer of this piece has taken great care to avoid gender discrimination. You can use that to your advantage unless all the women have buzz cuts. Cutting is only one possibility out of several at choice. If women can tie up long hair, so can men.
I'm glad to work at home and not have to follow any dress / personal appearance codes. Obviously in that kind of job, you have to take care to have a clean appearance. Perhaps a high and tight bun is appropriate for long haired men.
Anthony
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I'm 60 years old now, over the years i've dealt with many a dress code between jobs and school. I took great enjoyment at breaking the dress code many times. My hair always remained long and I took extremee joy in breaking the dress code. 1978 was the last time a job gave me heat over the dress code. From then on there were no complaints.
Just hang in there -- DON'T cut your hair at all (unless a supervisor / manager specifically & directly asks you to -- and even then, challenge them about it, as their rules should apply to women just as much as to men).
Re. the "act your age" comment from co-workers: OMG, what the hell does age have to do with hair length???
These kind of people have the same kind of mentality as when young longhairs have to hear the slur, "You look like a girl!" or, "You look like a homeless person!" In other words: ANY excuse a jerk like that can come up with to get you to cut your hair, they will. These kind of people are simply anti-longhair. Period. Just ignore them!
If your work is good quality, -- and if your Manager has any brains whatsoever inside his or her head -- they will be smart enough to realize it's good to keep you on staff... "as you are" (meaning, including with your long hair)!
'Nough said!
- Ken
Spaf,
You can easily follow that dress code regarding your hairstyle - as long as you keep it pulled back from our face and off your collar - a twist of manbun will work just fine - and if they push you on it, you've got a discrimination case, really - if they make women cut their hair so it is off the collar, then you don't have an arguement in that job... but, I am afraid they could ask you to trim the beard.
Good luck with all that...
Harassing a man about his beard is definitely sex discrimination, since only men have beards. Such can also be racial discrimination. I know a man who was harassed by his employers (they were Asian men and could not grow beards) because they thought beards were dirty. That is like a white man telling a black man his skin is "dirty".
Bill
Thanks everyone for their replies......I greatly appreciate your support..
I am practicing the bun... it keeps the tail dry on non-wash days..
AND, unfortunately, the beard was splitting in the middle, (I had to keep fooling with it so it wouldn't show),so I cut it back to the split... I am hoping if I keep the sides trimmed I can grow out the length and maybe they won't notice much over time.....
The Spaf Man