EMPLOYER APPEARANCE AND GROOMING STANDARDS: LEGAL, POLICY, & PRACTICE ISSUES INVOLVING TATTOOS AND BODY PIERCINGS.

Shari Lau, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) manager of SHRM's HR Knowledge Center cited recent survey research in her May 2016 article that reported that "29 percent of the U.S. population has at least one work of inked art" and that "almost half of Millennials have at least one tattoo" (Lau, 2016). "Gone are the days when only sailors and bikers sported tattoos" (Lau, 2016). A wide variety of reasons have been cited for the increased popularity of tattoos and or body piercings among the general population and some of them can create legal complications for organizations attempting to control how their employees present themselves to the public. The purpose of this paper is to examine legal, policy, and practice issues for employers attempting to utilize appearance and grooming standards to limit visible tattoos and piercings in their organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]