- CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ron Carter's
Starbucks' Coffee uniform includes pants, a shirt, an apron -- and wristbands
to hide his coffee connoisseur customers from the tattoos on his arm.
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- The drawings are ``nothing serious, no gang emblems or
anything,'' said Carter, a coffee taster for several Starbucks restaurants
in Chicago. One of the tattoos is the word ``Janet'' -- Carter is a fan
of pop star Janet Jackson -- the other is Sanfok, a form of African tribal
art.
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- His case is not unusual in the U.S. workplace, where
the popularity of body piercing and tattoos is posing a challenge to the
dress codes of many employers.
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- While Carter would like Starbucks' appearance guidelines
to be more relaxed, he understands the company's reasoning.
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- ``I just take it as a protocol,'' he said. ``It's a business.''
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- Chris Gimbl, a spokesperson for Starbucks Corp., said
employees generally see the chain is trying to present a clean, neat environment
and are willing to adhere to its policies.
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- A few employees have been terminated for refusing to
remove piercings or cover tattoos, Gimbl said.
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- Starbucks requires employees to cover all tattoos and
remove certain piercings. Carter has obliged for seven years, since he
began work for the Seattle-based coffee seller.
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- DRESS CODES LEGAL
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- Under the law, if Carter wants to work at Starbucks,
he does not have a choice. Employers are allowed to impose dress codes
and appearance policies as long as they do not discriminate on race, color,
religion, age, national origin or gender said Diane Amos, a public affairs
specialist at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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- Still, as the number of pierced and tattooed employees
has grown, so have the numbers of employees challenging the legality of
appearance policies, said Ethan Winning, a human resources consultant who
has been retained by companies in more than a such dozen lawsuits.
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- ``I've never known an employee to win a case and I've
never known a company to lose a case,'' Winning said. ``The employer can
set a reasonable standard for dress as long as it doesn't discriminate.''
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- Specific and consistent appearance codes are less vulnerable
to discrimination lawsuits, said human resources consultant Lynne McClure.
She has acted as a mediator between companies and employees in several
appearance policy disputes.
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- ``Our whole society has become very lawsuit happy,''
McClure said. ``I think companies are very vulnerable as people get more
aware of the whole diversity issue. Companies need to be consistent with
the dress codes they impose and consistent about enforcing them.''
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- Wal-mart Stores Inc. has developed specific policies
regarding piercing and tattoos ``as the culture has evolved and issues
have come up,'' said Tom Williams, a spokesperson for the company -- the
largest U.S. nongovernmental employer.
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- Wal-mart does not allow facial jewelry, specifically
eyebrow, nose and lip piercing. It also requires earrings and hair color,
on both men and women, to be ``conservative.'' Employees with ``offensive''
tattoos must agree to keep them covered.
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- Appearance has an impact on both employee performance
and customer perceptions, according to Williams.
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- COMFORT FACTOR
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- He said the policies exist because they help customers
feel comfortable. ``So when they come shopping it is a pleasant experience
for them,'' he said.
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- But employers need to consider whether a piercing or
a tattoo is worth the expense of a lawsuit or training a new employee,
McClure said.
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- ``In today's marketplace there are more jobs than there
are people,'' McClure said. ``I usually think it is best for companies
to keep the ones (workers) they got.''
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- But some employers, including Sears, Roebuck and Co.,
the No. 2 U.S. retailer, and Ameritech Corp., a telephone service provider
that is a unit of SBC Communications Inc., said safety concerns obligate
them to strictly enforce the company dress code. Loose jewelry can become
entangled with equipment, they said.
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- Ameritech recently suspended three employees without
pay for refusing to remove facial piercings.
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- ``Its wearing suitable clothing for the type of work
that is going to be done,'' said Denise Koenig, a spokesperson for Ameritech.
``We make evaluations based on safety all the time.''
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