The conciliation service ACAS has recently said that employers could be missing out on recruiting talented staff due to outdated policies towards tattoos. It is currently estimated that 1/5 of UK adults have a tattoo with that figure dropping to as many as 1/3 for younger people.
Whilst previously associated with criminals and other sub-cultures such as bikers, tattoos have now become common place and many celebrities including Angelina Jolie (co-ordinates of children’s birth places), Samantha Cameron (Dolphin on her ankle) and David Beckham (Numerous, including Victoria’s name in Hindi, spelt incorrectly) have them.
Following the recent case of a PWC worker who was sent home without pay for refusing to wear high heels, ACAS has released new guidelines for business dress codes. They state that the dress code should not be stricter towards either gender and that employers could adopt a casual dress code during the summer, something this firm also advises clients.
ACAS has suggested that any alterations to dress codes should be based on consultations with staff as to what is and isn’t acceptable and that the decision maker’s personal preferences shouldn’t be the be all and end all of what is allowed. Whatever your opinions on tattoos it seems that due to the sheer amount of people with them, a no tolerance attitude is almost like trying to fight the tide.
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