Pink hair gets man suspended from work

[hmmhmmcamo]

Originally Posted by Dion

Fair enough. Maybe the question should have been, why does one consider the color of a persons hair so unprofessional?

Who cares. Some people could be offended by it (or view it as unproffessional), and Sleep Country doesn't want to take the chance that one of their customers will.

That said the guy was delivering beds which IMO doesn't require much of a dress code.

I disagree. Delivering beds is a customer service type job. I don’t blame SC at all for wanting their delivery guys to look professional.

Seriously, do you really think some little old grandmama is going to hear a knock on the door...

go look through the peep hole...

see this clown...



And not give a second thought to just opening up the door and saying “come on in!”

Probably not

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Dion

I just don't see how the color of ones hair is a dress code violation.

Doesn't matter if you understand it, clearly it is against their dress code which he knew.

Originally Posted by Dion

I've seen some pretty weird hairdoo's and color schemes on womens hair who work professionaly and that doesn't upset me. ...

Different companies have different dress codes... and different people are upset by different things. Don't like the dress code at work cuz you want to show off your sweet neck tats, there are plenty of other companies to work for, doesn't mean you run whining to the sun.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by hmmhmmcamo

Who cares. Some people could be offended by it (or view it as unproffessional), and Sleep Country doesn't want to take the chance that one of their customers will.

I disagree. Delivering beds is a customer service type job. I don’t blame SC at all for wanting their delivery guys to look professional.

Seriously, do you really think some little old grandmama is going to hear a knock on the door...

go look through the peep hole...

see this clown...



And not give a second thought to just opening up the door and saying “come on in!”

Probably not

I just texted my boss, and asked if he was OK if I dyed my hair pink for a week to support a cancer cause. His answer ,"No problem!"

I am in customer service, doing transactions that average $40,000 and I am also asking people for all of their personal financial information. A lot more intrusive than a mattress delivery guy. Sleep Country is walking a fine line here. It is not like this guy is wearing smelly poo filled underwear, or has a swastika tattoo on his forehead. There is no hygiene issue, or anything threatening about pink hair.

I remember 2 years ago, when I decided I wanted to wear a beard. I asked both my boss's permission to grow onw, as it is not the norm to wear one in my type of work, most guys are super clean cut. Their response ,"As long as you do your job well, you can wear a Mr T mohawk for all we care."

[ricosuave]

this thread argument is about as ridiculous as the story itself.

bottom line, company had a policy, employee broke said policy.

thats really all that matters.

[hmmhmmcamo]

Originally Posted by pylon

I just texted my boss, and asked if he was OK if I dyed my hair pink for a week to support a cancer cause. His answer ,"No problem!"

Awesome. I bet if this clown did something similar things might have turned out differently. Maybe he wouldn't have been able to dye his hair pink, but maybe there are other ways SC could have been supportive to his cause.

I am in customer service, doing transactions that average $40,000 and I am also asking people for all of their personal financial information.

Do you do this in their bedroom? at their home?

or is it at your dealership, in public, you know, with lots of people around?

I remember 2 years ago, when I decided I wanted to wear a beard. I asked both my boss's permission to grow one, as it is not the norm to wear one in my type of work, most guys are super clean cut. Their response ,"As long as you do your job well, you can wear a Mr T mohawk for all we care."

Again, you talked to your employer first. He didn't.

Had you asked if you could grow a beard and they said no, would you have done it anyway and then called the Sun when they sent you home?

[TorqueDog]

Good gal Christine Magee.
Cares about supporting worthwhile causes.
Doesn't insult everyone's intelligence by pretending that dying her hair pink accomplishes anything.

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

And I died my hair after I graduated high school when I already had an office job that expected me to be presentable. It's not like someone can't look presentable with a different colour of hair. Grooming, hair style and clothes do most of that.

Given the context of this thread and your use of the term 'wacky', I took your post to mean that you dyed your hair unnatural and ridiculous colours, and thus that is how I am responding. If you meant wacky as in "I dyed my hair a dark natural red when I have been a natural light blonde for ages, but I'll never tell - tee-hee, that's L'Oréal Paris!" then I apologize.

I had dark blue, fire engine red, that blue-black colour that all the depressed kids used to dye their hair (not that I was, I just felt like doing it). I once did my hair bleached blonde then dyed it blue so it was a translucent blue, which was all kinds of crazy when you stood out in the sun and the shadow of your head had this weird blue lighting effect to it.

At the end of the day, I cannot see any occupation short of something in the vein of cosmetology (hair/esthetics) that would view my translucent blue hair in a professional light.

If I went to meet with clients every day and I showed up wearing my comfy but well-worn jeans, white DC skate shoes, and a T-shirt with a picture of a duck or some stupid thing on it, I would immediately leave a terrible first impression which would undoubtedly marginalize me and possibly my company in the eyes of this client.

Nothing I'm wearing is offensive, so how is this different than wearing a suit and tie, or even dressy jeans, with a button up and a sport-coat? It's a matter of presenting yourself as a professional and as someone who takes what they are doing seriously.


Do you think, even if styled to a less 'edgy' look, the hair colour below is in any way 'professional'?


Why stop at hair colour alone, how about this style?


Or this style, which must have been invented for those of us who have to spend a lot of our time in meetings?



Do you think a CEO or VP would walk into work one morning with a bright red mohawk? Even just a short one? Why not? Maybe he's a really cool, hip CEO.

[pylon]

I am just trying to find the parallel where you people are thinking a guy with pink hair is a threatening menace. Or some sort of rapist. I would say the person that finds pink hair threatening is the one that has the problem.

If the guy walked into my house, I wouldn't care one bit. I would ask him what cancer cause he is supporting. And if he said no, I would ask him what club his punk band is gigging at next.

My point is, I think Sleep Country thinks they are selling Bentley's, or Rolex's. They are in fact, selling overpriced, run of the mill mattresses, that can be bought at any big box, or independent retailer.

To me, this looks bad on Sleep Country, and just makes them look like snooty, spoilsport, buzz killington's. That is my opinion on it, just as everyone else is entitles to their own.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The guy in North Hill mall with the massive mohawk, I think he works at the Knife place, should be fired, he looks like a twat.

[albertGQ]

I don't think anyone in this thread ever said pink hair is scary. They said it's unprofessional. Because it is

[pylon]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

I don't think anyone in this thread ever said pink hair is scary. They said it's unprofessional. Because it is

I could understand this if the guy was a highly paid corporate professional.... fair enough. But this guy is a professional "I pick things up, and put them down." who is likely making 12 bucks an hour.

If the guy shows up on time, and does his job well (which it sounds like, as there are not many delivery guys that last more than a year anywhere) that should be what matters most.

[albertGQ]

His job performance probably is what matters most. A secondary criteria is to present his employer in a professional manner while on the job. Not having an unnatural hair colour is a reasonable request to me

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by pylon

My point is, I think Sleep Country thinks they are selling Bentley's, or Rolex's. They are in fact, selling overpriced, run of the mill mattresses, that can be bought at any big box, or independent retailer.

To me, this looks bad on Sleep Country, and just makes them look like snooty, spoilsport, buzz killington's. That is my opinion on it, just as everyone else is entitles to their own.

Sleep Country: "Hey Daniel, doing the cancer thing this year again eh?"
Daniel: "Sure am."
SC: "Great. Remember our agreement from last year though, we need you to wear a hat when working to cover it up, please and thanks."
D: "#### YOU SLEEP COUNTRY YOU NAZI PIECES OF SH-"
SC: "Whoa, Daniel, wai-"
D: "I'M TRYING TO SUPPORT CANCER HERE AND YOU WANT ME TO COVER UP MY HEAD."
SC: "We had an agreement that you could dye your hair as long as you wore a hat while working, this was fine last year."
D: "WELL IT ISN'T THIS YEAR, I'M GOING HOME."
SC: "... we just want you to put a hat on, Da-"
D: "NO."

It's odd that Sleep Country gets painted as a 'Buzz Killington' or you suggest that they think they're selling elite luxury goods. From hearing both sides of the story, it's quite clear that Sleep Country made a very fair request that the employee put on a hat, as he had done the previous year, and this time the employee chose not to accept that reasonable ask.

Obviously the job wasn't worth much to him, and he found a new job post-haste. So I really have to ask what the problem is here, and why Sleep Country is deserving of any of the villification you've directed towards them in your post, Pylon.

Originally Posted by pylon

I could understand this if the guy was a highly paid corporate professional.... fair enough. But this guy is a professional "I pick things up, and put them down." who is likely making 12 bucks an hour.

So is it acceptable then that your receptionist should be able to have any of the absurd hair styles/colours in my post above? She likely makes $12 an hour, if she's lucky (but probably less). Should your income dictate what level of professionalism one is expected to exude in their appearance?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

His job performance probably is what matters most. A secondary criteria is to present his employer in a professional manner while on the job. Not having an unnatural hair colour is a reasonable request to me

Judging by what I see from women in retail outlets, I would say that SC is being unreasonable. Besides, the last time SC delivered a bed to me, the 2 guys were wearing jeans and shirts that weren't tucked in and both were wearing thier caps backwards. Guess I should have reported him, right?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Good gal Christine Magee.
Cares about supporting worthwhile causes.
Doesn't insult everyone's intelligence by pretending that dying her hair pink accomplishes anything.


Given the context of this thread and your use of the term 'wacky', I took your post to mean that you dyed your hair unnatural and ridiculous colours, and thus that is how I am responding. If you meant wacky as in "I dyed my hair a dark natural red when I have been a natural light blonde for ages, but I'll never tell - tee-hee, that's L'Oréal Paris!" then I apologize.

I had dark blue, fire engine red, that blue-black colour that all the depressed kids used to dye their hair (not that I was, I just felt like doing it). I once did my hair bleached blonde then dyed it blue so it was a translucent blue, which was all kinds of crazy when you stood out in the sun and the shadow of your head had this weird blue lighting effect to it.

At the end of the day, I cannot see any occupation short of something in the vein of cosmetology (hair/esthetics) that would view my translucent blue hair in a professional light.

If I went to meet with clients every day and I showed up wearing my comfy but well-worn jeans, white DC skate shoes, and a T-shirt with a picture of a duck or some stupid thing on it, I would immediately leave a terrible first impression which would undoubtedly marginalize me and possibly my company in the eyes of this client.

Nothing I'm wearing is offensive, so how is this different than wearing a suit and tie, or even dressy jeans, with a button up and a sport-coat? It's a matter of presenting yourself as a professional and as someone who takes what they are doing seriously.


Do you think, even if styled to a less 'edgy' look, the hair colour below is in any way 'professional'?


Why stop at hair colour alone, how about this style?


Or this style, which must have been invented for those of us who have to spend a lot of our time in meetings?



Do you think a CEO or VP would walk into work one morning with a bright red mohawk? Even just a short one? Why not? Maybe he's a really cool, hip CEO.

We're talking about a guy delivering beds and not a CEO or some VP type person.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Obviously the job wasn't worth much to him, and he found a new job post-haste. So I really have to ask what the problem is here, and why Sleep Country is deserving of any of the villification you've directed towards them in your post, Pylon.

So is it acceptable then that your receptionist should be able to have any of the absurd hair styles/colours in my post above? She likely makes $12 an hour, if she's lucky (but probably less). Should your income dictate what level of professionalism one is expected to exude in their appearance?

Yes, to a degree I think you can expect more professionalism from people as determined by their status in the company, and responsibility to it.

Let's not fool anyone here. If this was some edgy exec in the company that did the same thing in an attempt to promote "charitable synergy" or some bs like that, staffers around him would be bowing down to kiss the guys ass, and he would be lauded as some sort of company super hero.

[Kybosh]

He should've just dyed his pubic hair pink and avoided such a kerfuffle.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Dion

We're talking about a guy delivering beds and not a CEO or some VP type person.

Thanks for quoting the entire post, only to reply to the very last sentence with an equally short sentence.

Originally Posted by pylon

Yes, to a degree I think you can expect more professionalism from people as determined by their status in the company, and responsibility to it.

I think you should expect professionalism any time you are dealing directly with customers, period. Delivery guy, receptionist, sales guy, whatever.

Originally Posted by pylon

Let's not fool anyone here. If this was some edgy exec in the company that did the same thing in an attempt to promote "charitable synergy" or some bs like that, staffers around him would be bowing down to kiss the guys ass, and he would be lauded as some sort of company super hero.

Great, and guess what - when you're in that kind of position, you're more than welcome to do so. When you're the dealer principal, you can shave the corporate logo in the back of your head. I'm sure people will love it.

But when someone asks the delivery guy to put on a hat to cover his bright pink hair because he's violating company policy with it (and he is fully aware that he is violating said policy), just put the damn hat on and save everyone the drama. You did something you knew was against policy and you did it anyway, and the company is actually being reasonable about it by simply asking you wear a hat. Is this REALLY a bridge worth dying on?

[hmmhmmcamo]

Originally Posted by pylon

Let's not fool anyone here. If this was some edgy exec in the company that did the same thing in an attempt to promote "charitable synergy" or some bs like that, staffers around him would be bowing down to kiss the guys ass, and he would be lauded as some sort of company super hero.

But we're not talking about some exec...we're talking about some snotty dbag kid that can't follow a simple dress code...for the second year in a row...that then calls the sun because his boss got mad at him.

But it's for cancer so it's all good ...and SC is evil.

[albertGQ]

Receptionists are usually low on the totem pole. You don't see them wear grungy jeans and have eratic hair.

[moon]

Originally Posted by fotze

If you were a shareholder in this company, what value has this policy added? That 1 in a million customer who is scared of pink haired delivery guys has been retained as a customer?

Treating employees like they are in the army is all good in theory, but in real life and in a good country, when you actually need people to deliver mattresses at a poor wage, you should probably be open on things that don't actually matter.

I would imagine the value this policy added is that when an employee breaks a policy the first time and the company works around a reasonable compromise and the same employee comes back and not only blatently breaks the rule and then acts like an ass about it that he doesn't get to decide what rules he follows or not.

With the number of employees that Sleep Country has I am not sure it is a great policy to allow employees to decide what rules they follow and which rules they break, especially not at the lowest level of employment.