Can My Workplace Make Me Shave?
- One instance in which the employer cannot ask you to shave your beard is if you have a health condition that prevents you from doing so. In particular, pseudofolliculitis barbae is one condition that is typically common among African-American men that results in pain and discomfort when shaving. In situations where you have a known medical condition, your employer cannot ask you to shave.
- In some places throughout the country, it is feasible that your employer can require you to shave if you work in a field where the public health is a concern. For instance, if you work as a line cook or chef, you may have to shave your beard if your employer requires you to do so. This depends on the requirements of your public health department and these can vary from city to city and from state to state. If, however this is not seen as a potential threat to public health, you may not have to shave.
- Another instance in which your employer cannot ask you to shave is if you have a religious affiliation that conflicts with such a request. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that employers make reasonable accommodation to employees who have religious beliefs that may conflict with employer policy. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee on the basis of his sincerely held religious beliefs, and the employer cannot simply ignore the request of the employee. So long as the request does not cause undue hardship to the employer, the employer must be willing to accommodate the request, even if it means having a bearded employee.
- In cases where the employer is not clearly discriminating against an employee, it is possible for them to ask an employee to shave. This can be done if the employer has a vested interest in doing so. For instance, if the employer has a certain image to maintain and your beard threatens that identity, it is within his rights to ask you to shave. For instance, a Wall Street brokerage firm or a financial services company may look down upon facial hair as inappropriate because it does not necessarily conform to the accepted norms for formal business wear.
