Body art -- aka tattoo -- needles employers.Valley's more traditional companies likely to have restrictive dress codes


Matthew Fabrizio looks like any other 20-something. He's hip, energetic and hopeful about his future. And like many members of his generation, he's tattooed and pierced.

Fabrizio said he hopes people can appreciate his body art and not pass judgment on him or his abilities to do his job.

The 23-year-old college graduate tutors young children with disabilities.

"My job is to help children catch up socially and academically," said Fabrizio, who also has his earlobes pierced and stretched. "I go to the schools and to the children's homes to make sure there is effective communication. My tattoos are not an issue."

Tattoos may not be an issue for Fabrizio or his employer, Behavioral Intervention Association of Fresno, but they are for a growing number of employers who are increasingly having to deal with a younger work force that is inked and pierced.

A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that 36% of those between the ages of 20 and 31 had a tattoo, and 32% had a body piercing.

The 2004 study surveyed more than 500 people nationwide.

"Every generation has their thing. In the '60s, it was long hair, and in the '70s, it was bad fashion," said Mark Keppler, human resources professor at California State University, Fresno. "And with the current generation, it seems like tattoos are their thing."

Keppler and other workplace experts say that while body art may be fashionable and embraced in some specialized job markets, many employers are less likely to allow their workers to sport lip rings or let their tattoos show.

The challenge over how much to let show may be greater in the central San Joaquin Valley, where employers tend to be more traditional, said Kathy Bray, president of Denham Personnel Services, a Fresno staffing, recruiting and human resources firm.

"We tell people this is a conservative business climate, so if you want to wear your piercing that's fine, but there are some companies where we won't be able to send them," Bray said. "And we know that."

Among her own office staff of 16 employees, Bray does not allow body art to show.

"If you want to work here, you are going to have to lose that piercing," Bray said. "And you know what, most people take it out."

Bray understands that not all employers share her views. Some businesses like having employees that reflect their younger customers, including an open display of body art.

"There are trendy stores where that sort of thing is fine," Bray said. "Truth is, I don't think they would hire me; you have to have stuff to work in those places."

How much an employee shows tattoos or piercings depends on the customers a company hopes to attract and the workers it is trying to recruit, experts said.

Gary Janzen, president of Janzen IdeaCorp, an advertising, marketing and public relations company in Fresno, said businesses trying to lure young, creative people may want to loosen their dress code policies.

"To restrict it too much might be counterproductive," Janzen said.

For his part, Janzen doesn't have a formal dress code policy, preferring to deal with body art on a case-by-case basis.

His clients feel the same way. Some accept the idea of body art, others don't.

A year ago, his company developed a marketing campaign for Valley Christian Center, an east-central Fresno church.

During the presentation, Janzen's staff revealed one of the advertisements showing a woman's shoulder with a tattoo of a cross. Above it were the words, "Love is ... accepting."

The ad stopped the church's leaders cold.

"There was a real resistance, but not out of a lack of love in the Christian sense," Janzen said. "They realized they had a policy that required their workers, such as janitors, to cover up their tattoos. Then someone got up and said, 'This message is about us. And if we are going to put this message out there, then we have to rescind our policy.' And they did. It was amazing."

But while some companies may be amending their dress code policies, others are making them more restrictive.

Shelline Bennett, managing partner with the law firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore in Fresno, said her company recently held a training conference titled "A No Holes Barred Approach to Employee Body Piercing and Tattoos."

And human resources consultant Ruth Evans has been contacted twice in the last month by businesses wanting her guidance on the issue.

"People are having to revisit their policies to restrict the showing of tattoos," said Evans of Fresno. "And a lot of this depends on how much the employees deal with the public."

Legal experts said companies can amend their dress code policies to restrict body art, but they must apply the new rules consistently and without religious bias.

"As long as you go about it properly, you can do it," said Talar Herculian, a Southern California employment law attorney. "But what I like to tell my clients is that they should really think carefully about what their goals and purposes are. If they want to maintain a certain image for customer relations purposes, then they can create a policy that supports that."

Herculian also advises that employees be given advance notice of when the new policy will take effect.

"It's amazing; employees are not just going to get up and leave because you have a new policy," she said. "There are lots of ways to cover up a tattoo or body piercing. I remember a neighbor who had tattoos all over his body from his fingertips to his neck, and then one day I see him in a business suit."

Fabrizio, the Fresno tutor, also knows how to be discreet when he needs to be. At some assignments, he doesn't wear the ear jewelry he has in his earlobes to keep them stretched.

Of his five tattoos, three are visible and nearly all carry a religious meaning.

And he plans to add more.

"Oh yeah, quite a few more, but a lot will depend on income and placement," Fabrizio said. "I am one of those people that as much as I like them, I realize that in my job and my career there is a good chance those will have to be covered up. And I am OK with that."

Fabrizio's boss, Monique Bekeschus, clinical director at Behavioral Intervention Association, said tattoos or piercings are fine as long as they don't create a distraction.

"With Matt, that has never been an issue. He is one of the most requested staff members and has a great rapport with the children," Bekeschus said. "And as far as appearance goes, I have a bigger issue with low-rise jeans. We are down on the ground a lot working with the kids, and low-rise jeans are not appropriate for our staff members."