wonder if anyone can advise me...i work at asda and they have introduced new dress regulations which are stricter.basically i have my tongue pierced and the new regs state that we aren't allowed to wear tongue studs at work
i dont wish to remove mine and have been told that everytime i come into work with it still in disciplinary action will be taken.today i received the 1st "councelling" session and tomorrow there will be an "investigation" if it's still in.this will lead to my 1st discipline.2 more after that and i'd get sacked.

is this fair/allowed?

to anyone reading who thinks its silly and i should just remove it then pls dont bother posting because i dont wanna do that.id rather take another job if thats what it takes.

if thats that and theres nothing i can do then fair do's but just thought id ask.

along with this guideline they have same procedure if anyone has a necklace showing,are wearing more than 1 ring on their hands,any tattoos showing and a lip or eyebrow piercing.however they are allowing nose studs to be worn due to "religious beliefs".they deem a tongue stud to be "generally offensive to the public" but i personally dont see how that is any worse than a nose stud which can be seen at all times.funny thing is my personnel manager didnt even know i had my peircing and she's worked with us for ages.kinda proves my point that its not really that offensive cos most ppl dont even see it!

so what do i do?

 

whats it say about a pierced tongue in pulp fiction again steve

 

if theyve give rules mate then there is fuck all you can do, they will follow proper disciplinary proceedings of 1xverbal warning and 2 x written then its dismisall. this procedure is accepted in law so best to remove stud or look for another job sharpish!

Tricky

 

did it state that in your contract?

 

chops i think they can do this wthin their rights etc cos there giving you warnings etc to take it out

could well be new j.o.b. time maybe unfortunatley

agree with you tho you could hardly see it but a nose stud is allowed ?

 

no it didnt m8 and thats rather annoying.its never bin a problem till now and even the managers sort of agree with me but of course they are "just doin their job"

i started there over 7yrs ago and tongue bin done best part of 6

 

so if you have a tattoo one your arm, you have to have it taken off

 

yes unfortuantly. (FYI its "Officially" from 6 " under the lowest armpit hair)Union rules dont cha know.

But then if you work at Asda for 7 years you're far too committed.

Go and get a proper job You're not a kid anymore.

 

nothing you can do about it at all

 

which one do you work at? I drive for em nights mate.....

 

BOD in aberdeen m8. doubt you go that far

rikki
you have to wear a gaylord long sleeve top to hide them

 

your right , for some reason I had you down as south coast

 

The Human Rights Act 1998
Article 10: Freedom Of Expression
If an employee were to be dismissed because of body piercing that was not thought to be appropriate the Tribunal must take into account the employees right to freedom of expression when deciding whether a dismissal was fair.

The site below makes good reading, especially the Star City case. Very similar to yours but you had the piercing BEFORE the dress code policy.
http://www.cmlawyers.com.au/news/2004/009.html

 

I love reading up on tribunal cases i have this site saved in my favs http://www.eoc-law.org.uk, when i'm bored at work its fun to read through the cases, especially when the boss has called his employee a nigga, and then had to pay him ŁŁŁ in compo

 

chop,
have a look and see if you can find a religion which involves pierced tongue...if ya catch my drift

 

FPMSL!

 

You have to go with whatever is in your contract. Dig it out and get the magnifying glass. Unfortunately there are usally very generic things in there that mean they can change/do whatever they like at anytime...

 

That's EXACTLY what I was gonna write when I read this

 

"its Sexy"

"help's Felatio"

 

fuckin hell asda are gettin a bit anal arn't they??

 

what aboput the rule thats states if ya have been doing it or had it for a period of time then its comon pratice

bit like ya do a job and even though its none contractual they can then enforce it as it becomes comon practise

or heres another one for ya, i cant actually take mine out as its seized in place and even pliers slip on the fooker, the dental hospital tried to take it out for a xray, they couldnt with pliers and sugested cutting it off ( fook that ) so i had to shove loads of things in me mouth to get the xray

now my owrk asked me to remove me eyebrow ring when i was a traffic warden, they looked into it and discovered all they could do was make me wear a plaster, they chose blue plasters just for me too

as for the tounge ring contact human resources and explain it dont come out ya have had it for x amount of time and as about girls earings ect and see what they say

religion is a excuse they use and they hate but thaty cant do shite as the court dont like racism

you do have rights though about it, there are loads of things in ya contract but you took a job on based on the contract and if they make a new rule you do have to sign the next one as ya could say ya would never have taken the job all that time ago if ya knew

but like working in a pub and being told ya are working in the no smoking section and then ya get moved to the public bar, by rights ya wa employed to work in no smoking and moving ya there is not on unless they made ya aware ya was gonna work in smoking ya may not have taken the job

anyway good luck but im sure ya will sort it out

oh and working for asda for 7 years is only sad if ya still stacking shelfs or still working 20 hours per week

 

Ok i can shed a little light on a dark subject

1. With reasonable consultation an employer can change your contract if it is based on implied terms

ie because someone has always worked a certain shift etc the employer can explain why and change it if it still falls within your written contract

The tounge piercing however if the poiicy change is due to Health & Safety reasons which is what most will claim they can enforce that more quickly .


Now your case chop is a little different

You have had a (homo) tounge piercing for quite some time before this rule change .

You need do nothing for the following reasons

If they were to dismiss you i feel that at Tribunal you would have a very good argument in terms of the following

Your tounge piercing has never interferred with your ability to do the job . At no time have you been made aware of any "specific" occasions where you have caused distress to a customer

So therefore you are being "disciplined" by the big bad company for your freedom of speech and a change in corporate policy in terms of dress code
Its worth showing them the Terms and Conditions of your contract and handbook from when you started asking where it shows the tounge stud issue

If you are disciplined etc you need to ask some questions

1. Why now is it inappropriate to have the tounge stud
2. In what way is it affecting your performance at work
3. Raise the issue that you feel victimised and ostricised (spl) by this action
4.Ask about appeals process for any action and MAKE sure you Appeal
5. Ask about grievance procedures in terms of you feel agrieved

If all else fails get rid of it you homo MOFO

Nige

 

Is it not something to do with working in a food environment?

Im only guessing here but im pretty sure Asda sell food, in which case doesn't health & safety require you to cover any ear / nose piercings or remove them whilst in that environment? If so I would guess it falls into the same criteria?

Hope you dont loose your job over it tho. I was made to remove excessive ear piercings when I worked for John Lewis..... after a week I couldn't get the damn things back in, was well pissed off but didnt think it was worth loosing my job over.

 

you think thats bad, tomorrow, me and two workmates are having diciplinarys because we played football for 10 mins while it was quiet. we operate a cardboard baler at a somerfield distribution depot, and there were no lorries that contained any cardboard on any bays so instead of sitting on our arses, were gonna get them kicked instead!!

 

top effort nige
thats exactly what i meant

 

cheeRS for the replies. v helpful russ and nige

they struck a compromise that we could wear summat less visible so today i bought a clear stud.

should just put the silver 1 back in and bring on the war

 

sounds like what sainsburys is getting like....they wont do anything if people have had tattoos/piercings before they changed the dress codes though.

they're well strict on sick days as well, if i have 1 day off sick in the next year i'll get a verbal warning

 

If they are being awkward about it insist on wearing one of those polution masks. I bet it doesn't state you can't wear those in your contract and no one can tell you off for wearing a tongue ring as they should never see it!

 

What nige said is the way it is, however there only angle is on health & safety grounds which they will need to prove, the y cannot just say it and expect u to follow it. I suggest u contact ur union rep if u have 1 or have a free consultation with a solicitor and see what he/she thinks.

Good luck oh and dont forget u have the right to have a colleague/friend/solicitor with u for any formal hearing, if its informal then there is nothing they can say as its ur word against theres.

 

How can that be?! im sure you can sign yourself off sick for a week now

 

why don't you change your tongue stud to one of those retainer things (i think they're clear), at least then you have compromised

 

CabrioTurbo

I think if an employer is saying one more day off sick it means they have probably had a deal of time of already

Employers generally understand illness and sickness when genuine as "MOST" illness last more than a day and tends not to follow trends

Unlike

Lazy "sickies" which are most often one to two days and Mondays Fridays are most common

Thats whats happenend i feel

Nige




Chop

Go with the compromise if you dont YOU are being unreasonable and again at a tribunal this would now be massivily against you

 

nope, & u only get sick pay if you're off or more than 3 days!

 

Vix

You can sign yourself off for upto 7days its called "self certification" however if you are off more than 7 days your employer has a "right" to a Drs note explaining why

If they dont receive this they can discipline you

However if you have a history of lots of small days sickness they can clamp down

"most" employers allow 20 days a year before they get the arse

The 3days before sick pay is called "waiting days"

Nige

 

i was asked for a doctors note when i was off for 1 day with food poisoning...& then they did an investigation cos i'd had another day off sick 3 months earlier

 

they can ask for a doctors note if they feel that you are taking the pisss at all

Also its IMPOSSIBLE to be off for only one day with food poisning ... and employers know it

nige

PS what job do you do

 

Yeah great go to war with your employers over a tongue peircing, That'll really help when you leave and want a reference for your next job.

 

why exactly do you feel like you have to be such a bell end posting unwanted comments?

 

just get an invisible one

my mate works with "crazy" people in the "crazy" hospital and has like 40 piercings. he just wears invisible bars (basically clear plastic) through them when he goes to work.

ask at your local body piercers <== for me

 

not exactly invisible but as i said above m8 i bought a clear stud