tattoos and piercings in the workplace

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Tattoos and Piercing in the Workplace
The trend of having tattoos and piercings has been increasing over time mainly among the youth. It is a way they express themselves or identify themselves with certain groups. Some also use tattoos to convey certain messages to whoever stares at them. It, therefore, inquiries that the tattoo is drawn in visible parts of the body or whoever has the tattoo must stick to attire that exposes it for the message to be conveyed clearly. Most employers have always wanted to employ people with good physical appearance to represent their businesses and therefore having tattoos in the workplace is not okay in the workplace.
Of course, not all tattoos and piercings are the same or have the same meaning or convey the same message. Some tattoos are vulgar or have the scary appearance, allowing tattoos in the workplace will mean that all tattoos are accepted. The employer may have the option of choosing which tattoo to take and which one does not accept because it leads to discrimination at the workplace. Therefore it means that even the vulgar tattoos will have to be accepted and this is not what an employer would want to portray to his or her customers. However, there are some companies around the world that allow tattoos and piercings as long as they are not offensive. Piercing can be authorized though not for every worker. Ear piercing is okay for the ladies, but the men should avoid piercing if they are to work in a professional organization that cares about their appearance to the clients (Miller 628).

Some might argue that the tattoos can be covered by wearing certain types of clothes. I acknowledge this argument, but it does not apply everywhere. Most professional companies have their rules and regulations on attire that every employee has to adhere to. Business entities such as banks consultancy firms that have direct contact with clients have professional attire that has to be obeyed by every worker to portray a good image of the entity. Wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts in such organization cannot be allowed if their rules require that every employee should wear a suit. If an employ has a tattoo or piercing on the face, it will mean that he covers his face to hide them from the client. I don’t think there is any company or customer that can be comfortable dealing with a worker whose face is covered. It will, therefore, mean that the firm comes up with a different dress code specifically for employees who have tattoos and piercings.
Tattoos and piercings are a health hazard in workplaces that are involved in food processing, packaging or sales. Tattoos that have not healed properly are just like cuts or wound that can cause contamination of the food. Piercing in the form of body jewelry can harbor dirt which leads to contamination of the food products if not properly managed. The use of proper clothing and gloves, in this case, can be of help except for the body jewelry. In manufacturing industries, allowing workers to have body jewelry can lead to accidents especially if the job involves operating machinery. Such accidents can result in injuries or even death of the employee. The best way to avoid losses from these disasters is to establish regulations that do not allow people with piercings in such workplaces.(Support Tattoos, www.stapaw.com).
Having tattoos and piercing can cause a distraction to the both the owner and the third party. Schools and institutions of learning have teachers and tutors who teach the students mostly by presenting their content in front of the students. Having a tattoo or piercing on such a person will cause a distraction to the students who will tend to concentrate on the tattoos than on listening to their teacher. The tattoos and piercing on the teachers also portray a bad image of the teacher because they are linked with unprofessionalism. The teacher should be neat to serve as a good example to the students. Employees in other fields also get distracted by their tattoos and piercings; they waste working hours by spending time adjusting their piercings or admiring their tattoos. A time-based organization that cannot afford to waste even a single minute will have trouble employing such individual because they slow down the productivity of the company.
Most organizations have always been keen on protecting their image. People with tattoos have been stereotyped by the society to be unprofessional, less qualified and irresponsible. Companies who care about their image will not want to employ someone who will tarnish the good relation they have created with the society and customers. It is better to keep away workers have tattoos and piercing which might end up chasing away the customers so as to ensure continued success in the company’s business.
Certainly, not all companies view people with tattoos and piercings the same way. The firms that manufacture the equipment for tattoos and piercings will definitely require the employees to have them as a way of marketing their products. The sales and marketing departments of such companies can allow the workers to have a variety of tattoos and piercings for them to be continuously in business through constant marketing. Therefore, in such workplaces exposing the tattoos and piercings is the norm. People who design and draw tattoos make a living from the business, and they would not be happy to hear that tattoos are not allowed in some workplace. However, such workplaces also have to protect the prosperity of their businesses by following some work ethics(Miller 626).
The issue of tattoos in the workplaces will still be a problem until everyone agrees to one way of solving it. This might not be possible since people have different views on the matter. Most youths choose to have tattoos and piercings as a way of beautification. I acknowledge that everyone would want to look beautiful, but there must be limits in every attempt to improve the beauty. Some attempts are extreme such as piercing the eyelids, nostrils, and tongue splitting are way too much and in most cases makes someone looks more scary than beautiful. Letting the workplace decide on which body piercing or tattoo is beautiful and accepted is impossible, the decision has to be of the tattoo owner. Since most companies have objectives that require protection of their dignity and the image, they show the customers, not allowing tattoos and piercings at the workplaces will be the way forward to ensure they achieve their goals. However, companies that allow tattoos and piercing and still meet their objective in the business should fight to protect those employees against any laws that will interfere with their productivity. I discourage tattoos and piercings in the more professional organization as it will do more harm than good to the business.

Works Cited
“Support Tattoos and Piercings at Work.” Support Tattoos and Piercings at Work, www.stapaw.com/tattoos-and-piercings-in-the-workplace.
Miller, Brian K. et al. “Body Art in the Workplace: Piercing the Prejudice?” Personnel Review, vol. 38, no. 6, 2009, pp. 621–640. doi:10.1108/00483480910992247.