Dear Dr. Mimi:
I have an employee who has tattoos and piercings. When I hired him, the tattoos were covered and there was no metal in the piercings. Now, he periodically wears a nose ring, and last week, he came in with two rings in his eyebrows. When he wears short sleeves, the tattoos are visible. I mentioned something to my employee, and he said that since he is doing a good job, in today’s world, tattoos and piercings should not matter and that he is simply expressing himself. I feel that they are inappropriate. Who is correct?
—Traditional

Dear Traditional:
Some employees mistakenly believe that they have a legal right to show tattoos and body piercings in the workplace. While tattoos and piercings may be examples of employee self-expression, they generally are not recognized as indications of religious or racial expression and, therefore, are not protected under federal discrimination laws. Accordingly, as with most personal appearance and grooming standards, employers have wide latitude to set policy regarding tattoos and body piercings. Some employers have policies limiting restrictions to employees who have contact with the public and only require that the tattoos and piercings not be visible. This policy is the most practical to implement since it does not restrict employees’ personal choices to get tattoos or piercings, but simply limits when they can show them at work. If you have a stated policy regarding visible tattoos and piercings, then you should enforce the policy, just as you enforce other employee behavior policies. As a first step, provide a warning that the employee has violated the policy and that further violations will result in additional discipline. If you do not have a policy in place, you may want to consider one.
-Dr. Mimi