<p>Roommates, it&#8217;s 2020, so you would think most companies have strayed from strict and often times discriminatory policies regarding employee appearance. We have seen a lot of legislative progress surrounding hair discrimination in the workplace in select cities, and it looks like UPS is making some major changes as well.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/business/ups-black-natural-hair.html">New York Times,</a> UPS has just changed its dress code policy to allow employees to sport facial hair and natural hairstyles like &#8216;fro&#8217;s and braids in an effort to move toward being more inclusive of all workers. The company also announced it would be eliminating gender-specific policies, such as the length of their uniform shorts.</p>
<p>&#8220;These changes reflect our values and desire to have all UPS employees feel comfortable, genuine and authentic while providing service to our customers and interacting with the general public,&#8221; the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>UPS CEO Carol Tomé recently told investors that the company has also increased it&#8217;s employee training &#8220;to ensure our actions match our values.&#8221; The company has reportedly echoed others, such as Starbucks, by incorporating unconscious bias training for employees to learn how to promote diversity and inclusion on the job.</p>
<p>The delivery giant found itself in some trouble with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission back in 2018, and was required to pay a $4.9 million fine in relation to employees whose appearance did not align with company policy due to religious practices,</p>
<p>&#8220;UPS failed to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices conflict with its appearance policy and failed to provide religious accommodations,&#8221; the EEOC said. &#8220;UPS segregated employees who maintained beards or long hair in accordance with their religious beliefs into non-supervisory, back-of-the-facility positions without customer contact.&#8221;</p>
<p>UPS&#8217; employee union, Teamsters, released a statement following the announcement.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are very pleased about it. The union contested the previous guidelines as too strict numerous times over the years through the grievance/arbitration process and contract negotiations.&#8221;</p>
<p>How do y&#8217;all feel about strict policies surrounding physical appearance in the workplace, Roomies? Let us know!</p>
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