Discrimination over office tattoos?

Over the past few decades, body art has become increasingly popular, visible and accepted in many social circles. As a form of self-expression, tattoos are an ancient tradition dating back to a number of indigenous populations in Asia and the Americas. Despite these deep roots and social trends toward acceptance, however, there remains a long-standing stigma against visible tattoos in professional work place settings.

Driven by both economic and cultural factors, many corporate policies today forbade visible tattoos in the workplace. On the one hand, many client-facing jobs, ranging from retail to service settings, place tight restrictions on the appearance of employees; companies are increasingly concerned about potentially alienating customers in an increasingly competitive business environment. Even traditionally socially accepting corporations, such as Whole Foods Market, have instituted certain limitations on the visibility of body tattoos among their work force. Limitations range from outright bans on visible tattoos in the workplace to stringent limitations requiring workers to cover up their body art.

Recent studies have shown that while many white collar workers, especially in expressive creative arts fields, are taking an increasingly brazen approach to body art (see Body Art Acceptance.) On the other hand, more traditional retailers and companies structure dress policies to create a sense of standardization in consumer experience, which has made tattoos a taboo in many work place environments. At its core, tattoo policies in the workplace reflect long-standing cultural approaches toward body art, which are continuing to shift as younger generations become more accepting of the practice.