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Passions: Tattoo/taboo
Should visible tattoos be acceptable in the workplace? An image specialist and a wild child make their point
“Certain professional decorum must be maintained”
By Riaan George
I have never been a fan of tattoos. Thus, as you would expect, I have never been inked. While I am all for personal freedom of expression, I continue to have reservations with regards to visible tattoos in the workplace, and tend to adopt a more conservative stance here. I work regularly with luxury hospitality brands, consulting them on grooming and image standards, and the industry standard is no visible tattoos. This is to ensure uniform standards and a certain professional decorum that translates the image of the luxury brand.
While some tattoos are artistic, there are many with religious or political significance which should ideally not creep into a workplace. If a brand was to allow one employee with a visible tattoo, then it would have to extend that freedom to everyone, and that could possibly create a whole new set of frictions. It’s all a question of standardising things. I have a simple opinion—you are free to tattoo yourself. Just keep in mind that if you choose to work in a particular field which might expect a certain level of conservativeness, your tattoos should not be visible.
It boils down to the industry you work in. Hotels, airlines, legacy luxury brands continue to adopt the no visible tattoos stance, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Fashion brands, trendy cafés, media houses, where self-expression is part of the ethos, are more permissive with tattoos.
Riaan George is a grooming and image specialist, and a social media content creator. He doesn’t have any tattoos.
“Tattoos don’t determine how professional you are”
By Urvee Modwel
If someone is capable enough of doing their job well, why does appearance matter? Tattoos are no measure of how professional you are. If you’re telling someone that you won’t hire them because they have visible tattoos, you’re essentially discriminating against someone for expressing themselves. After all, what does a neck tattoo or a wrist tattoo have to do with how well you work on PowerPoint?
With tattoos being more and more normalised, accepted and popular, the thought that someone’s qualifications should be overshadowed by something like this seems quite small-minded. Sure, a face tattoo could put potential employers off, I’ll grant you that, especially in a client-facing job. But gone are the days when people had never seen one before, or will be more than momentarily surprised by it. We live in a post-Post Malone world, and the longer this stigma and old-fashioned thinking is allowed to fester, the longer it will stay.
If employers or offices enforce a strict dress code, that usually takes care of covering up most tattoos. But what should a little star on your wrist or lightning bolt on your finger mean to anyone? Tattoos are, and should remain, highly personal, and judging someone on their personal choices is wrong.
Urvee Modwel, a member of team HT Brunch, has seven tattoos and doesn’t plan on stopping soon.
From HT Brunch, March 6, 2022
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