Emily Benschoter wears hair dyed pink – and her employer is strictly against it. Both sides agreed that the employee should wear wigs. But they look different than the boss might have thought.
Colorfully dyed hair or eye-catching tattoos can become a problem for employees who come into contact with customers. Although many companies are now taking a more relaxed view of things, some companies still believe that employees should also conform to a conventional appearance.
That’s how Emily Benschoter’s employer sees it. The 29-year-old works in the hotel industry, so she naturally has a lot of contact with guests in her everyday work. And she has dyed her hair pink – a fact her boss doesn’t agree with at all. However, her supervisor knew nothing about it when he hired her: the interview took place on the phone, and he hadn’t seen a photo of Benschoter either.
Wigs instead of pink hair
When she started her new job as a receptionist, she immediately had a serious conversation with her boss: loud hair colors are categorically forbidden for employees who come into contact with customers. “Dying my hair for a job where I work 40 hours a week was out of the question for me,” Benschoter told Newsweek. “I’m a self-expressive person and I feel good about my pink hair, so I came up with a solution that would allow me to keep my hair and my job.”
From Amazon to Volkswagen
These are the most popular employers among non-graduates
Benschoter asked if she couldn’t just hide her pink hair under wigs – her employer agreed. But the boss had probably not expected what the employee understood by that: The woman from Georgia now regularly wears strange-looking, sometimes old-fashioned, sometimes downright absurd wigs at work. The 29-year-old regularly presents new models on TikTok.
“Malicious obedience” to the employer
Once she even showed up there with a fake beard. Your employer is powerless, after all he agreed to the agreement. “And my colleagues and guests love it,” explains Benschoter on TikTok. She calls her approach “malicious obedience”: “The worse the wig, the better. It’s a way of talking to the guests about it. They think it’s crazy that I have to hide my pink hair.”
Benschoter even finds her company’s guidelines “dehumanizing”. A law (the so-called CROWN Act) has been in force in the USA since last year, according to which people may not be discriminated against because of their natural hair. This does not apply to Benschoter, however, as her hair is dyed. In Germany, the employee is free to choose their hair color, but the employer has the right to put them in a position with less customer contact.
Sources: //
See the video: Being at home for the children and going full throttle at work: Many mothers want exactly that and therefore need flexibility from their employer. Some job portals like Superheldin or Momjobs want to help – with job advertisements from family-friendly companies.
Source: Stern
