Outdated and negative views about tattoos
A BBC article reported a warning from the conciliation service, ACAS. ACAS said negative attitudes about visible tattoos are outdated and that employers have been warned they could be missing out on the best talent because they are rejecting candidates with tattoos.
Tattoos are still a bar to employment for many police and fire services, despite the challenges they face to recruit sufficient numbers and quality. The article cites an example of a senior emergency services manager rejecting tattooed candidates.
Another article featuring on the BBC reports that police officers should be allowed to have tattoos on their hands, neck and face according to the Police Federation of England and Wales.
YouGov tattoo poll
Dress codes have relaxed in recent years with ties for example no longer obligatory for many. A YouGov tattoo poll results suggested that nearly a fifth of adults in the UK have had tattoos, with those under 40 significantly more likely to have them. ACAS suggest attitudes may need to change towards tattoos in the workplace.
Should businesses’ Diversity and Inclusion policies include tattoos?
Ironically, many such public services (as well as private companies, though less publicised) are adapting their employer branding and recruitment advertising to hire candidates that reflect their local community or customer base. This often takes the form of greater ethnic, gender or age diversity.
But if the YouGov poll suggests greater than 20% of candidates under 40 have considered having a tattoo, then perhaps this policy of diversity and inclusion within the workforce needs to change to include those with tattoos?
So when it comes to tattoos, is it ‘anything goes’ from now on then?
No. There is a fair argument for de-selecting candidates for tattoos. Most notably where those tattoos - in terms of their content, design or meaning - breach other policies or laws, cause distress to others or may jeopardise the candidate’s ability to carry out their duties.
Current employment discrimination is allowed where 'Genuine Occupation Reasons' can be proven. Examples might be tattoos supporting or inciting racism, or causing religious offence. This is quite clearly unacceptable. However, even then there are grey areas. Take an example of a candidate applying for a job in the funeral parlour while sporting a tattoo of a zombie? That’s less clear.
What should recruiters do in the future?
Good recruitment practice and well-performing businesses are built upon recruiting the best and right people for the job and applying fair selection practices. So culturally, attitudes to tattoos need to be best in the hiring manager community. From a practical point of view, set out a clear consistent policy for your business on what is and isn’t acceptable, as suggested above. This way, candidates aren’t ruled out merely for having a tattoo, only if that tattoo contravenes that policy.
Allow candidates to upload images of their tattoos with their application
In 2016, we introduced into our ATS system the ability for candidates to upload images of their tattoos as part of the application process for one of our clients in the public sector. Our client has a clear and justifiable policy (with some slight wording changes by us for suitability of publication) that tattoos are not acceptable if they:
- Undermine the dignity and authority of the organisation;
- Could cause offence to members of the public or colleagues and/or invite provocation;
- Indicate unacceptable attitudes towards women, minority groups or any other section of the community;
- Indicate alignment with a particular group which could give offence to members of the public or colleagues;
- Are considered to be rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent or intimidating.
Tattoo images reviewed in the applicant tracking system
Once uploaded, the images are held confidentially by a specialist team independent from the recruiting manager(s) who screen the tattoo images for anything that contravenes the policy. For our client this has cut down on wasted time and expense associated with having to rule out candidates much later in the recruitment process (or even once in the post). It’s eradicated the time and cost incurred when trying to manage this process with offline documentation.
Online recruitment software that’s opened the door to more talent
The process has also benefited candidates who previously would have suffered from an outright ban on all tattoos. Candidates have the ability to provide their own images, taken easily from any smartphone, tablet or computer and negate the inconvenience and intrusion associated with undergoing a physical inspection. This combined with the policy and independent screening, helps to reaffirm to the candidates that they are being selected based on their skills, qualities and abilities demonstrated in the selection process.
Such an approach highlights just how the application of useful technology, accompanied with a mindset that reflects modern thinking/trends in society, can combine to produce results that enhance the organisation and help individuals fulfil potential without yet another form of discrimination encroaching on lives.