I don’t really think it can be summarized in that way.
I work for a very large corporation (400,000+ employees) and they don’t seem to have any issue with tattoos. My office has a few hundred people and there are probably a dozen with visible tattoos.
And then there are other people in this thread talking about small grocery stores that have policies against visible ink.
I think a more accurate summary would be that some places accept tattoos and others discourage them. I don’t think it can be made any more specific than that. Unless the company has an official policy, you will most likely find differences from one manager to another, or between departments within the same company. In most cases it probably comes down to the individual you are dealing with in the company. If they have tattoos, or someone they know does, it will have a huge impact on their policy.
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I work at Hastings…worked there prior to getting my very visible wrist tattoo. I felt comfortable getting this tattoo because my boss had like 5 tattoos around her wrists. Now she’s quitting and I’ll be the only one with a visible tattoo…hopefully this doesn’t come back to bite me.
But anyway, fairly big corporation and they allow them (thus far). What sucks tho is I don’t like my job long enough to stay here real long term and I wonder what will happen for me at other jobs.
Thoughts on this? For guys it’s easier to cover wrist and forearm tattoos…just wear a long-sleeve shirt to the interview. But girls generally don’t wear long-sleeve shirts to interviews–at least I don’t. Anyone else have thoughts?
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Anyone in the NY area on the job-hunt? Have stories about job interviews with tattoos showing? I want to hear them.
Its strange, because ive seen a girl in a bank (one of the ones that actually deals with customers) with a big piece down her forearm. Ive also seen a girl in Superdrug with a pheonix all the way down her forearm. However big supermarkets like Sainsburys are very strict on their policy for tattoos and piercings. My friend got a job in Sainsburys (she has 5 facial piercings) and they said she could have the job on the basis that all of her piercings were removed.
I had a job in summer…and on the first day i made sure all visible piercings were removed, however i was running late one day and completely forgot to remove them and my boss didnt say a thing, and in fact throughout the day loads of people were talking to me about them. A couple of people my age, that were similar to me also said they only came over to the shop i was working at purely because i had piercings. I recently got my first tattoos on my wrists, and im just going to have to see what the boss from my summer job will say about them, although i cant see her having a problem with them. I guess it just depends on the employer, however i do believe they are becoming more widely accepted by people. Over here in the UK anyways.
I don’t have a problem with an employer who does not allow visible tattoos. In fact I believe that any non-gonvernment owned business should be able to discriminate with respect to hiring on any basis. I may choose not to work for them or patronize them, but it is still their right.
I agree, but unfortunately that is not the case. If I don’t want to hire someone who is black, I can’t refrain from hiring him just because he is black. If I don’t want to hire a Muslim, I can’t not hire someone because he is Muslim. If I don’t want to hire someone who is gay, a cross- dresser, young, old, blind, in a wheelchair, has AIDS, or from Canada, I can’t use any of those reasons to not hire them. Tattoos should be no exception. If you can do the job with tattoos, employers should not be allowed to discriminate.
The “choice” argument is also invalid. One’s religion is a choice. One’s choice of sexual partners is a choice. The gender that one represents to the public is a choice. In some cases, getting a disease (such as AIDS) or being disabled (such as a parachutist who has an accident and is paralysed for the rest of his life) is the result of a choice, as are tattoos. Yet all of those others are protected by law. You can’t have it both ways. Either don’t try to ban discrimination at all (which to me is the only logical thing to do), or ban all discimination (which is both impossible and idiotic). The only reason some groups are protected while others are not is because they have strong advocates. And it just goes to show how far politically-correct communism has dragged down our nation from the once great heights of Freedom.
No boss in their right mind would admit that is the reason they are not hiring you
True, because most people with tattoos have done time and are prone to violence, so ya definitely don’t wanna piss them off 😉
About tattoos not being acceptable in the professional workplaces…
(^^using professional as the defined term; I’m not making judgement on anyones’ occupation)
I work for a company…let’s just call it ‘the bronze bull’ and I’m a wealth manager. I just use custom made single arm sleeve to hide my work on my arm when wearing a white dress shirt….otherwise I don’t even have to worry about it, but long sleeves are absolutely mandatory in my workplace, so perhaps that serves as an advantage for me..
Anyway, I always figured if I got ‘let go’ that I would be able to grab other professional jobs by just not wearing short sleeves near the workplace
–tom
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yeah I’ve lost jobs before when I approach a potential client (web design) and they spend the whole conversation looking at my tattoos on my arms.
Must be what women feel like when men talk to their boobs…
Anyway it shows peoples characters up quickly so saves spending time with judgmental people.
also get to spend more time working on my tattoo designs…so it all good.
Cheers Scott
I work for a high end fashion label and visible tattoos are not accepted in the work place.
None of my superiors know my ams are heavily tattooed as I always cover up with long sleeves. I am a store manager so I wear a shirt and dress smarter to also stand out.
I was in a focus group yesterday in London and the subject of appearance of staff came up and this branched off to tattoos and that one of the staff members has a skull and cross bones on her inner forearm. To be fair she doesn’t look the type from what I have seen of her to be tattooed but as we know we are a variety of people not just the stereotypical image people have.
My opinion is within certain environments in business it isn’t acceptable to have visible tattoos particularly bigger pieces, but subject matter does seem to change the rules as a little flower on the foot would be allowed- so how is the skull and cross bones not allowed?
We had a quick discussion on tattoos as a group and I was quite shocked at some of the opinions with one manager saying she is a stupid girl and she has jeopordised her whole future, in which my response is you have to live and let live and it is her decision to have a visible piece and she will have to cover it up if it is not acceptable in your store. To say her future over is a bit much. I do believe that young people should consider very stongly before getting inked as location can be an issue. I may go full sleeve with my arm but I will ensure it is an inch higher than my wrist bone as I don’t want to be judged or for it to take away from the good work I do as I want people to talk about what I do not how I look.
It is a sad state of affairs and I did say that I could be covered in them and know one would know as I wear long sleeved shirts everyday so how does that change my abilities and future? But no one really answered it.
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