New dress code

So, one of my jobs, DialAmerica, has decided to change their dress codes. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, normally. However, the changes involve now making it a termination offense...to have piercings and tattoos that people were HIRED WITH. People who have been with the company for months, years, now find themselves forced to make a choice between removing these piercings and adornments or losing their job. And I acknowledge, yes, it's their choice. But it is not a choice that they should be forced to make. Because these things were fine when the person was hired.

If they had an issue with these, it should have been a rule before hiring. Because it is NOT RIGHT to have someone come in to an interview, see that they have 2 or more facial piercings, tattoos running from their hands to the base of their jaw, or whatever, and tell the person that they are perfectly acceptable. Then let them get established, start doing well, let them train others because of how GOOD THEY ARE at their job. And then kick their legs out from under them by telling them that they are no longer acceptable, and FORCE them to make that choice after they have become established. Particularly at a call center environment, where the customers will never see these employees, employees that tend to post superb sales figures for their employers. I could've sworn that always taught that people who work hard and did well at their jobs...were rewarded.

And the odd part is, this rule would apply to roughly half of the sales floor employees. Thus, if these employees decided to push back some, and counter these strong-arm tactics, DialAmerica would be harming itself, as well. All these employers have to realize is that if DialAmerica actually enforced this rule to the letter, they would have to fire half their workforce. Yes, they can replace those people, but it would take time and money to find and hire new workers, plus the 2+ weeks put into training before those people are productive, and even more time before the new ones reached the levels of the experienced ones. There have been rumors of the company trying to woo new clients. I doubt those clients would be very impressed to see that DialAmerica has to abandon calls, lose and anger customers because they suddenly dropped half their workforce. In addition, if one really wanted to strike a blow: Such an employee would have plenty of free time, to do things like hang out near the company. And such a person could be very vocal to a potential new client, about how their former employee cannot keep it's word to an employee, so what kind of treatment will they give to someone that they would want to get every penny possible from...? You people are employees, not serfs, and you are only powerless if you LET YOURSELF BE. All it takes is the willingness to stand up for what is right.

"Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it." -David Starr Jordan