The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 prohibits less favourable treatment under nine grounds to include gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.
#Skin deep tattoo code#
Given the current skills gap, the focus on flexibility and the bargaining power held by employees’ employers may want to relax their dress code to limit the risk of staff attrition.
If employers believe that customers’ negative attitudes towards visible tattoos on employees may affect their business interests, they may decide to retain a strict dress code for some or all employees, for example, customer facing employees. Changing normsĪlthough it seems to be becoming more acceptable for employees to exhibit visible tattoos research has also suggested that this acceptance is more common in creative sectors than in white-collar environments.
#Skin deep tattoo professional#
In circumstances where it now seems to be generally accepted that employees can work effectively from home without wearing a professional “uniform” it raises the question as to whether a blanket ban on tattoos or displaying tattoos accurately represents our new world of work. One of the key impacts of the pandemic is a relaxing of dress codes in professional environments. Many employees would argue that a tattoo has no impact on their ability to do their job and in those circumstances should simply not be a consideration when assessing them from a performance perspective. In a workplace which seems to be moving towards inclusivity employees may now raise the issue as to whether a prohibition on displaying tattoos at work is a form of discriminatory behaviour. With the movement towards working from home many employees are now starting to question the necessity for the strict dress codes that operated pre-Covid for the first time. Historically suits were considered normal office attire for professional roles, with more casual clothing being adopted by more creative sectors. What is deemed to be acceptable in various workplaces is often influenced by the particular sector. As the dress code is set by an employer it is open to them to take an open or a conservative approach to such policies. Such codes will address the issue of tattoos or piercings. Typically, employers manage this aspect of the employment relationship by issuing a Dress Code to employees which sets out acceptable and unacceptable attire. This extends to the image an employee should present to customers and the public. To a large extent it is open to employers to determine how their employees should behave while at work.
As a result, it has become more common for people to display their “body art” visibly, for example on their lower arm, neck or face. Tattoos are now seen by many people as a form of self-expression. Historically, tattoos were associated with diverse subcultures but in today’s world, they have entered the mainstream. With that in mind, it should be noted that surveys carried out in Ireland in 2019 suggested that approximately 35% of Irish people had tattoos. Arguably diversity could reflect any grouping of people bonded together by some common interest, aim or belief. Typically embracing diversity meant focusing on the nine protected groups identified under equality legislation. The issue of diversity and inclusion has taken centre stage in Irish employment law in recent times.
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