Should companies be allowed to their employers how to have their facial hair?

I used to work in a store like that. I never really understood their reasoning. Either way I quit (not because of that) so now I am free to wander the streets with my facial hair...

In a perfect world, Amstardam, it wouldn't matter if the person had a beard or not. However we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world where if you work for a company-their company, their rules. That's just the way life is. In almost every aspect of life we have dress codes. This is not always a bad thing.

My fiance has a job interview on Saturday at a restaurant, and I'm sure that on Friday night, I will have to convince him that he needs to shave off his goatee. He has been growing it since we moved, and he hates having to shave it off. I don't mind whether he has it or not, honestly. :) He's also got quite a few piercings, and I'm not sure what they will have to say about that. I think it's a lot more of an issue in food service than in sales, which makes some sense. There is a bit of a gender bias, though, as girls are usually allowed to get away with having multiple ear piercings, but a lot of people will look at my fiance's two holes in each earlobe (stretched piercings) and his industrial and freak out. I have two holes in each of my earlobes (lower pair stretched) and a cartilage piercing, and no one thinks twice about it.

I can understand why some companies doesn't want their employees to have facial piercings or weird hairdoes, but I don't see why a beard or ear piercings should be a problem. Some times a personal look can actually be good for business. I work as a demonstrator, and the few times that a customer has seen my tattoo they often stay longer and talk which gives me an opportunity to sell the products.

My husband has always had a beard and does not look right without it. With that said I do think it depends on what job it is. For example my husband is a firefighter and just got hired onto a dept. and is only allowed to have a mustache for safety reasons, which I completely understand. I think the reason behind employers not allowing it is that it looks more professional but in my opinion that is subjective. To each their own.