Current Events > Facial hair policies at work are a ridiculous concept.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Dress codes I get. It's just clothes. But beards aren't exactly something you can take off before you go to work and put back on in your free time. The company is overreaching into your personal life just to make you look more "presentable" to people at work.

And then it's hilariously out of touch when they say you can have facial hair as long as it's just a mustache. Oh yeah, some creepy mustache from 30-40 years ago is certainly more presentable than a facial hair style that's actually in.
---

My company has no facial hair policies. We got high up dudes at corporate with full wizard beards.
---

Yea when I worked at Publix you could only have a mustache but that's not my style so I had to shave before every shift and sucked. I actually stayed the night at a friends before starting one of my shifts and I didn't have time to go home and they actually made me dry shave with a disposable razor they kept just for those situations
---

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.
---

If facial hair is that important, maybe don't work at a place that doesn't allow you to have it. Most places are pretty up front about that sort of thing.
---

Don't like it, work for someone else.
---

What's next, arm hair policies?
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

What? That comparison was stupid.
---

If you work with the public, either shave or keep it well groomed. Dudes with scraggly facial hair look disgusting. Be conscious of how you present yourself. It matters.
---

Stick_1_2_3 posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

What? That comparison was stupid.

They're both hair that is considered socially unacceptable in places. :u I mean their are countries where women don't shave their legs as a cultural thing. Doesn't mean that flies in the USA.
---

I could understand if you worked some food-related job. Can't think of a lot more reasons, tbh, unless it's just as a catchall for ridiculous facial hair and neckbeards. Understandable because using words like "reasonable" in HR speak is a good way to have time-wasting complaints and arguments.
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

Stick_1_2_3 posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

What? That comparison was stupid.

They're both hair that is considered socially unacceptable in places. :u I mean their are countries where women don't shave their legs as a cultural thing. Doesn't mean that flies in the USA.

I've never heard of a place where beards are socially unacceptable.
---

fenderbender321 posted...

Has any customer ever said "I'm not going back to that business...one of their employees had facial hair."

No. That has never happened. If you look homeless or something a customer might complain about you though.
---

In some sectors (food service, manufacturing, etc) it's a health or safety risk to have a long beard.

The issue isn't with your average beard, but that one jackbutt who never even trims it and just has a mass of hair around his chin like a 2nd scrotum.

And since "well groomed" is a subjective assessment, it's much easier to have a rigid rule that's easy to enforce.


---

My dad can't have more than a mustache for RPE purposes. He's told me that he would like to have a beard but that it will have to wait until his retirement.
---

MC_BatCommander posted...

I've never heard of a place where beards are socially unacceptable.

An office environment. :u They aren't allowed at my work at all.
---

DevsBro posted...

I could understand if you worked some food-related job. Can't think of a lot more reasons, tbh, unless it's just as a catchall for ridiculous facial hair and neckbeards. Understandable because using words like "reasonable" in HR speak is a good way to have time-wasting complaints and arguments.

Im p sure weapondude does, I could be wrong though
---

Publix was insane. I get it but skipping a day and essentially being talked to like a child about it when going to work is the dumbest. I DID quit. I had to wear these stupid fucking aprons too. Fuck publix.
---

You could probably get away with it just fine if you keep it neat. Like my bar has a facial hair policy, but they don't give a fuck if it isn't some disgusting neckbeard
---

Both me and my fiance have worked for a big 4 company (EY and KPMG) and beards were totally acceptable there. I guess it depends on your line of work but given the amount of money people pay for an audit and the lack of a facial hair policy, I'd say that there is no correlation between professionalism and a clean shaven face.
---

Im repeating myself because i want you to know how fucking stupid it was. If i didnt shave in the morning then my boss would say something. Like i fucking shaved yesterday and i might have some stubles or some shit. Fuck Publix.
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

MC_BatCommander posted...

I've never heard of a place where beards are socially unacceptable.

An office environment. :u They aren't allowed at my work at all.

which wouldn't be a social situation. Like I can see leg hair on women being discouraged in social situations but never seen a dude get beard shamed
---

VandorLee posted...

Publix was insane. I get it but skipping a day and essentially being talked to like a child about it when going to work is the dumbest. I DID quit. I had to wear these stupid fucking aprons too. Fuck publix.

I know your pain bri
---

I've had beards, I've been clean shaven. I've had long hair, I've had short hair. My ears are pierced. I've had to not wear them when I had certain jobs. It'll grow back and you can put them back in at home. It's not a big deal if you need a job.

And as someone mentioned, companies are very up front about this. So you know what you are getting into before hand. I've been asked in interviews if I would take out my earring or alter my hair/facial hair to get the job and the answer is always yes.

Side note: At my last job, I remember one of my supervisors telling me that if it were to the owner, all men would have no more than a mustache, no long hair, no jewelry or visible tattoos. But his desire that all men be super clean cut literally made his potential employee pool so small he couldn't manage his company effectively. So to a degree, a company can be hurt if their views of what should and shouldn't be acceptable is too much in contrast with what is accepted in society as a whole.
---

I dislike the idea that some hairstyles are considered professional while some are not.
Obviously I'll do what I need to do to look the part, but if I were to reach a level of power in a company in the future, it's a stigma I'd like to remove
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

I didn't say huge beards, which are indeed a sort of extreme style that aren't as accepted by society, or at least get you treated differently.

But a regular fucking beard. Just a neatly trimmed full beard. That stuff is in style and often considered much more attractive than clean shaven. These aren't gross, and it's certainly not akin to a woman's unshaven legs. That shit isn't a style, it's unhygienic. A better equivalent would be a patchy neckbeard.
---

weapon_d00d816 posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

I didn't say huge beards, which are indeed a sort of extreme style that aren't as accepted by society, or at least get you treated differently.

But a regular fucking beard. Just a neatly trimmed full beard. That stuff is in style and often considered much more attractive than clean shaven. These aren't gross, and it's certainly not akin to a woman's unshaven legs. That shit isn't a style, it's unhygienic. A better equivalent would be a patchy neckbeard.

what is unhygienic about unshaven legs? Guys don't shave theirs. It isn't like the hair is dirty or anything. It is just a social thing. Like beards are.
---

I've turned down a job over it
---

ToonLinkWithGun posted...

My company has no facial hair policies. We got high up dudes at corporate with full wizard beards.

PICS NAO!
---

eston posted...

If facial hair is that important, maybe don't work at a place that doesn't allow you to have it. Most places are pretty up front about that sort of thing.

But that's not something that should be on the table when selecting jobs. People don't exactly have the luxury of picking between multiple identical jobs where minor things like that are a decision factor. In the real world, people are choosing jobs based on pay, hours, location, and nature of work and are forced to make these dumb concessions for the sake of their superiors' personal nit-picky preferences. Employers are the ones who have the power to choose because of the economy, and they exercise that ability.
---

Balrog0 posted...

DevsBro posted...

I could understand if you worked some food-related job. Can't think of a lot more reasons, tbh, unless it's just as a catchall for ridiculous facial hair and neckbeards. Understandable because using words like "reasonable" in HR speak is a good way to have time-wasting complaints and arguments.

Im p sure weapondude does, I could be wrong though

I do not. I'm also not complaining about any particular experience I've had, just the concept of facial hair policies in general. I've got a full beard and it's never been a problem.
---

shockthemonkey posted...

weapon_d00d816 posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else. Guys just need to face it, huge beards are not professional. It is like a woman coming to work with unshaved legs. No one wants to see your nasty beard.

I didn't say huge beards, which are indeed a sort of extreme style that aren't as accepted by society, or at least get you treated differently.

But a regular fucking beard. Just a neatly trimmed full beard. That stuff is in style and often considered much more attractive than clean shaven. These aren't gross, and it's certainly not akin to a woman's unshaven legs. That shit isn't a style, it's unhygienic. A better equivalent would be a patchy neckbeard.

...how are beards more hygienic than women's unshaved legs?

Hygiene isn't all about if it actually impacts health. There's a cultural aspect.
---

Ehh, I'm on your side mainly, but there's nothing unhygienic about unshaven legs
---

emblem boy posted...

Ehh, I'm on your side mainly, but there's nothing unhygienic about unshaven legs

Maybe your definition of hygiene isn't as broad as mine.

Unshaven legs are "not taking care of your appearance".
---

weapon_d00d816 posted...

emblem boy posted...

Ehh, I'm on your side mainly, but there's nothing unhygienic about unshaven legs

Maybe your definition of hygiene differs from mine.

Unshaven legs are "not taking care of appearance".

Is that because you don't find them professional or attractive in some way?
---

weapon_d00d816 posted...

emblem boy posted...

Ehh, I'm on your side mainly, but there's nothing unhygienic about unshaven legs

Maybe your definition of hygiene isn't as broad as mine.

Unshaven legs are "not taking care of your appearance".

Which, ironically, is the same reason people don't like beards.
---

thanosibe posted...

I've had beards, I've been clean shaven. I've had long hair, I've had short hair. My ears are pierced. I've had to not wear them when I had certain jobs. It'll grow back and you can put them back in at home. It's not a big deal if you need a job.

And as someone mentioned, companies are very up front about this. So you know what you are getting into before hand. I've been asked in interviews if I would take out my earring or alter my hair/facial hair to get the job and the answer is always yes.

Side note: At my last job, I remember one of my supervisors telling me that if it were to the owner, all men would have no more than a mustache, no long hair, no jewelry or visible tattoos. But his desire that all men be super clean cut literally made his potential employee pool so small he couldn't manage his company effectively. So to a degree, a company can be hurt if their views of what should and shouldn't be acceptable is too much in contrast with what is accepted in society as a whole.

I don't know about you but I don't grow a full, thick beard after 8 hours. If you're working at this place 8 hours a day Monday-Friday for years, there is no time to for it to "grow back" unless stubble is your style. It's not like clothes or piercings.
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

weapon_d00d816 posted...

emblem boy posted...

Ehh, I'm on your side mainly, but there's nothing unhygienic about unshaven legs

Maybe your definition of hygiene isn't as broad as mine.

Unshaven legs are "not taking care of your appearance".

Which, ironically, is the same reason people don't like beards.

Except many beards are accepted as intentional styles and are taken care of. There are no "styles" of leg hair accepted by society other than clean shaven. It's an almost entirely unanimous decision by society, but only weird people think all beards are signs of laziness and letting yourself go.
---

That's disappointing. If you're against beards having a bad stigma as not being profession, I'd hope you feel the same about something as unimportant as leg hair. Unless someone is wearing shorts, and unless the hair is really long, it's not noticably
---

OpheliaAdenade posted...

If you don't like it, go work someplace else.

eston posted...

If facial hair is that important, maybe don't work at a place that doesn't allow you to have it.

voldothegr8 posted...

Don't like it, work for someone else.

These are the type of folks that have no idea what they're spouting. Sometimes, that's all you can find at the moment so you must do with the regulations and policies. I don't think a person is dumb enough to say "Oh man, they don't allow facial hair. I'm out!" when they really need the job or the money.

No, but I'm board with TC. It's a dumb policy, and a sexist one. In my old job, mustaches were allowed, but not other facial hair which really doesn't make any sense given that facial hair, is well, facial hair no matter where it's located. Hell, not even stubble was permitted.

Luckily, my current job does permit facial hair, so I was able to grow a short beard for a few weeks.
---

emblem boy posted...

That's disappointing. If you're against beards having a bad stigma as not being profession, I'd hope you feel the same about something as unimportant as leg hair. Unless someone is wearing shorts, and unless the hair is really long, it's not noticably

You're not getting it.

I'm arguing about how it's ridiculous for a company to dictate your facial hair in the same way they dictate a dress code because beards do not grow at a rate that would allow you to "just wear it on your own time". A rule against leg hair is not equivalent because almost no one wears leg hair for fashion reasons. It would be placing demands on the employee's personal presentation like the beard rule, but would not be intruding upon their appearance preferences.
---

Even worse is you can have one if you already have one, or take enough time off, but aren't allowed to grow one on "company time" is a policy I've seen many men at a place I used to work at bitch about.
---

I've never heard of anything like this. Assuming it's an American thing?

knutjob posted...

I've never heard of anything like this. Assuming it's an American thing?

Yeah. Most food places require clean shaven faces, while some just require another hair net for the beard.

The clean shaven policy also can apply to workplaces involving machinery where a long enough beard could get caught in any mechanisms.
---