Eye Brows...!

[wizzywoo1972]

My daughter started working in a beauticians about a year ago. Her manager has been constantly telling her to get her eyebrows waxed. My daughter is a bit of a plain Jane, she doesnt wear make up, she has plain hair and naturally thick eyebrows.
She was employed like this yet the manager insists on telling her to wear make up and have her brows shaped. There is nothing in her contract to say that this has to be done. I'm just wondering whether this is imperative that she do this as she has been told its her "final warning" about it.
Is this right? Should she be bullied into changing her appearance?
Would really appreciate anybodies comments.
Many Thanks

[B00]

Not sure of the legalities, but it does sound like she might not be a good advert for the company! LOL

I'd be wary of going for any beauty treatments which the consultant clearly hasn't used herself.

[Prudie]

Is she actually being bullied? It's not right that she should be told how to look no but I have some sympathy with the manager. Rightly or wrongly customers might expect beauticians to look as though they apply their trade to themselves. I'm surprised your daughter doesn't want to partake in the whole make-up thing.

[NoMercy]

It must be like a vegan working in an abattoir...

[wizzywoo1972]

thanks for your comments peeps, she has been wearing the makeup and has been paying to get her eyebrows waxed but she is rather sensitive to the idea of being told to groom herself to be like the others.

[Prudie]

So why does she want to be a beautician?

[black_cat51]

i think that every job has standards of dress and appearance, which often aren't "fixed" in a contract, but more what is "reasonable" (for example one of the public facing members of my team at work got an awful sleeve tattoo, and was told she had to have it covered by clothes in work time. This wasn't written anywhere, but is "reasonable" in the circumstances. I would consider this request to be reasonable also, given the circumstances

[black_cat51]

if she's already done it, what's the problem then?

[B00]

If she's already wearing the make up and getting her brows waxed, isn't she already doing what the manager has asked?

[kvalidir]

No, desiring how your employees look does not extend so far as to you being able to demand they wax their eyebrows or wear make up. This is bullying.
With regards to beauticians needing to look a certain way, to some degree that's true, although for me in the opposite direction. I won't go to a beautician that's orange with pale pink lipstick, has false eyelashes, overtweezed brows and poor quality hair extensions. Being plain and devoid of make-up is perfectly fine however.
This has made me quite angry, your poor daughter :(

[ladybirder]

I hear what she's saying, I've never wanted to look like everyone else either, good on her. Was she wearing make up when she was interviewed and given her job?

[Prudie]

"No, desiring how your employees look does not extend so far as to you being able to demand they wax their eyebrows or wear make up. This is bullying."
Try telling that to airlines, sorry that's simply not true.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with not wearing make-up or fiddling with eye-brows but if it's your job to promote that to customers then why pick it as your job in the first place?

[rsvp]

Perhaps she needs to ask herself whether or not she wants a career or just a job. From the bosses point of view though, there must have been something special about your daughter to have warranted employing her in the first place. I would imagine the beauty trade is a pretty cut throat business and it may be a case of adapt or die.

[Elina]

wizzy, did the beauticians your daughter works for inform her of an 'image' she would need to maintain whilst in their employment or a contract that specifies anything like that? I think its reasonable in such a profession to expect/ project a certain degree of image.

[whirlyhurly]

Surely people who visit beauticians expect to be treated by people who are "glammed up", thus promoting the business.

[wizzywoo1972]

thank you all so much. my daughter has been in the profession for many years as a hair dresser. this is a different line of work and i do appreciate your comments about her appearance. she knows her trade, is confident and happy to sell the products and has a great personality that customers & management love. she has been falling in line with what her manager tells her. but is a little upset about being told what to do.

[kvalidir]

Prudie- here is a quote from a leading employment law solicitor Corinna Ferguson. The Smith decision was about length of hair and is not terribly relevant here and the subject of being forced to wear make up in work has never been fully tested in a UK court however, it appears to be the case that it can certainly be considered harassment in certain cases.

''The Smith decision was handed down in 1996 and followed a line of similar decisions which have been much criticised for approving gender stereotypes. Thirteen years on it is possible that courts would be more open about what constitutes appropriate work dress. But in any event it seems to me that a policy requiring women to wear make-up differs in a number of respects from a policy banning men from having long hair. Although make-up can be removed and therefore does not necessarily govern an employee's appearance away from work, there are two features which I think make it more objectionable than the hair policy. First, it requires women to spend more time and money on their appearance than men, which could – if more than a very trivial difference – "unbalance the treatment of men and women as to amount to less favourable treatment". But more importantly it seems to me there is something particularly demeaning about the notion that women must wear make-up in order to look acceptable. There is nothing wrong with a policy which demands that all employees look tidy and presentable, but saying that women cannot do so without wearing foundation, blusher, eye shadow, mascara and lipstick – and there surely would have to be quite specific rules if the policy was to mean anything – is outdated and deeply offensive to many women. In an extreme case the enforcement of such a policy could even amount to harassment.''

[askyourgran]

A beauticians job is to make woman look beautiful. The whole concept of this is glamour and clean presentation in the salon. If a beautician is less than attractive to the client I imagine it would be a bit off-putting, the client would probably wonder if she knows anything at all about beauty preparations and how to make the best of someone. Not bullying, but wanting her to maintain a good example of their trade on the shop floor. The manager should have told her what was expected of her at the interview.

[wizzywoo1972]

she was interviewed without make up and with bushy eye brows! as far as im aware she wasnt told what her image should be like,
i understand about her appearance, i wear makeup and shape my brows but my daughter has eczema has prefers clear skin and natural brows. is this bullying or harrasment? she hasnt had it before anywhere shes worked.

[mazie]

You don't say what job she does at the Beauticians. Is she a therapist, receptionist?

[kvalidir]

I really don't see why a woman has to wear make-up and have waxed brows to look well turned out? By definition of what a lot are saying a really ugly or disfigured girl could never be a beautician and presumably a girl with alopaecia couldn't be a hairdresser, which is frankly crazy.