There has been quite a bit of talk locally about tattoos and whether or not organizations have the right to ask employers to cover up their body art. In the past year, both the Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Police Force have made the news for trying to enforce a Tattoo Policy.
I am not sure which side of the fence I come down on this one...on the one hand, as a "collector" of tasteful and non visible (unless I want you to do see them) tattoos...I believe tattoos are a beautiful expression of personality. On the other hand, I see pictures such as the one below, and I immediately turn into the unhip mother that I am sometimes accused of being by certain teenagers who reside with me.
I am not sure which side of the fence I come down on this one...on the one hand, as a "collector" of tasteful and non visible (unless I want you to do see them) tattoos...I believe tattoos are a beautiful expression of personality. On the other hand, I see pictures such as the one below, and I immediately turn into the unhip mother that I am sometimes accused of being by certain teenagers who reside with me.
Where does a company draw the line? Presumably it depends on the organization...what goes in a creative mobile app shop may be completely unacceptable in a health care organization. I must say that if I were a patient at the Ottawa Hospital and the man above came in to take blood, I would undoubtedly have a negative reaction. However, let's face (Ha...pun intended) it, that is the extreme and having lived in Ottawa for many years, I have not seen anything even remotely close to this. And I certainly have never seen anyone on the police force sporting such a look.
It goes back to using common sense. If there is a dress code that prohibits vulgarity or offensive messaging on clothing, then it goes without saying that offensive tattoos should also be prohibit. But not all tattoos are offensive, and some of the sweeping policies that ban all tattoos are outdated and narrow-minded. I like the reasoning and wording of the Ontario arbitrator who struck down the Ottawa Hospital's policy to cover tattoos - he declared that tattoos were not just for “sailors, stevedores and strippers” any more. Exactly!
It goes back to using common sense. If there is a dress code that prohibits vulgarity or offensive messaging on clothing, then it goes without saying that offensive tattoos should also be prohibit. But not all tattoos are offensive, and some of the sweeping policies that ban all tattoos are outdated and narrow-minded. I like the reasoning and wording of the Ontario arbitrator who struck down the Ottawa Hospital's policy to cover tattoos - he declared that tattoos were not just for “sailors, stevedores and strippers” any more. Exactly!
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