Roommates, it’s 2020, so you would think most companies have strayed from strict and often times discriminatory policies regarding employee appearance. We have seen a lot of legislative progress surrounding hair discrimination in the workplace in select cities, and it looks like UPS is making some major changes as well.
According to the New York Times, UPS has just changed its dress code policy to allow employees to sport facial hair and natural hairstyles like ‘fro’s and braids in an effort to move toward being more inclusive of all workers. The company also announced it would be eliminating gender-specific policies, such as the length of their uniform shorts.
“These changes reflect our values and desire to have all UPS employees feel comfortable, genuine and authentic while providing service to our customers and interacting with the general public,” the company said in a statement.
UPS CEO Carol Tomé recently told investors that the company has also increased it’s employee training “to ensure our actions match our values.” The company has reportedly echoed others, such as Starbucks, by incorporating unconscious bias training for employees to learn how to promote diversity and inclusion on the job.
The delivery giant found itself in some trouble with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission back in 2018, and was required to pay a $4.9 million fine in relation to employees whose appearance did not align with company policy due to religious practices,
“UPS failed to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices conflict with its appearance policy and failed to provide religious accommodations,” the EEOC said. “UPS segregated employees who maintained beards or long hair in accordance with their religious beliefs into non-supervisory, back-of-the-facility positions without customer contact.”
UPS’ employee union, Teamsters, released a statement following the announcement.
“We are very pleased about it. The union contested the previous guidelines as too strict numerous times over the years through the grievance/arbitration process and contract negotiations.”
How do y’all feel about strict policies surrounding physical appearance in the workplace, Roomies? Let us know!
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