UPS Lifts Ban on Beards in Diversity Push
November 10 2020 - 5:33PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Ziobro
United Parcel Service Inc. is loosening its famously strict
guidelines on employee appearance, including lifting a longstanding
ban on facial hair and allowing natural Black hairstyles like Afros
and braids.
The delivery giant said the changes, which also include
eliminating gender-specific rules, are part of an effort to
"celebrate diversity rather than corporate restrictions," according
to an announcement on an internal website and documents reviewed by
The Wall Street Journal.
UPS, with more than 500,000 workers globally, has a long list of
personal appearance guidelines that govern everything from
hairstyles (no longer than collar length for men) to the length of
shorts (minimally the middle of the thigh and preferably 3 inches
above the knee.) Piercings, limited to earrings and small facial
ones, must be "businesslike" and tattoos covered up. The rules
primarily have applied to employees who do their work out in
public, like delivery drivers, and excluded those who sort packages
and load trucks.
The policy shift comes shortly after UPS hired its first female
chief executive, Carol Tomé, and as U.S. companies are increasingly
examining how they approach racial issues and other sensitive
social matters. UPS is implementing unconscious bias, diversity and
inclusion training "to ensure our actions match our values," Ms.
Tomé said on a recent earnings call.
UPS didn't provide immediate comment.
UPS's commitment to tidiness dates back to its founder James
Casey, who was known for his neatly pressed suits and expected all
employees to meet high appearance standards. "Casey's personal code
of neatness was a discipline, a discipline he required of his
managers, and through them, the entire UPS enterprise," Greg
Niemann wrote in "Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS."
Many UPS drivers took pride in their brown uniforms and
clean-cut appearance, teasing co-workers who let their scruff grow
beyond an acceptable five o'clock shadow or who wore wrinkled
shirts. The militarylike rules -- sideburns not below the hole of
the ear, mustaches not beyond the crease of the lip -- were
observed strictly for most of UPS's history.
More recently, UPS workers were permitted to have a beard if
they got a medical or religious exemption. Some local rules allowed
drivers to obtain so-called "shaver waivers" with minimal fuss.
But the rules ran into legal trouble. Two years ago, UPS paid
$4.9 million to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by
the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the
prohibition on beards and hair length.
The commission argued the UPS policy blocked some people from
being hired or promoted due to their appearances or religion, and
relegated workers who had beards or long hair due to their
religious beliefs to nonsupervisory, back-of-house positions.
Workers had in the past launched petitions to rescind the ban on
beards, including one on Change.org with over 9,000 signatures.
"Times have changed since the guidelines against facial hair were
established," the petition read. "It's the 21st century and it's
time for a change in the dress code!"
The new policy allows facial hair, saying beards and mustaches
"are definitely acceptable as long as they are worn in a
businesslike manner and don't create a safety concern," according
to the documents reviewed by the Journal.
The company now explicitly allows a number of natural hair
styles, "such as afros, braids, curls, coils, locs, twists and
knots." It also eliminated any guidelines specific to men or women.
"No matter how you identify -- dress appropriately for your
workday," the documents state.
"The new appearance guidelines recognize the beauty in the
diversity of all UPSers," UPS Chief Human Resources Officer
Charlene Thomas said in the internal notice. "We know that UPSers
will always be respectful of our culture, our customers and our
co-workers when deciding how they show up and act on the job."
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 10, 2020 17:18 ET (22:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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