Tattoo artists used to have a term for big, visible tattoos, the ones that, 20 years ago, got strange looks from hiring managers and recruiters: job stoppers.
They were splotched across the hands, neck or face, enough to turn a golden job interview into an instant thanks-but-no-thanks rejection. When would-be job stoppers walked in the door, the artist would ask: Are you sure you want to do this?
What was once a very real term has since become a mostly-sarcastic phrase in tattoo shops, according to Dave Wildenboer, owner and operator of the New Tribe tattoo shop on Queen Street West.
“I joke with people who aren’t tattooed, ‘You’re in the minority now,’” Wildenboer said. “It’s become the norm.”
But even as times change, some things haven’t. Employers can still decide to not hire people because of their tattoos. You can be fired for not covering up, too. So in today’s world, does having a tattoo still hurt your job prospects? We asked the experts.
How times have changed
Millennials have pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable in the workplace, said Michael Halinski, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who studies workplaces, organizational change and generational differences.
Once upon a time, groupthink was important to organizations, Halinski said. Hierarchical organizations were common.
“It was easier to manage people when everyone thought the same way,” Halinski said. “You wanted everyone to stand in line.”
Before he became a tattoo artist, when he worked odd jobs in restaurants and grocery stores in the late 1980s, Wildenboer had a technique to avoid awkward looks in interviews.
“I would get the job without (showing) any tattoos,” he said, “then I would phase them into the job to sort of test the waters.”
Millennials began changing that culture when they entered the workforce. Now, those same millennials are leading companies and founding their own. In 2021, both UPS and Disney’s park division changed their internal policies to allow workers to show their tattoos. The U.S. army also eased its tattoo policy in recent years.
Cal Jungwirth, director of permanent placement services at employment agency Robert Half, said he can’t remember the last time a hiring manager mentioned a candidate’s tattoos.
“It doesn’t seem to ever come up,” Jungwirth said. “In the last five to 10 years, I cannot remember a single circumstance where a comment was made.”
The boundaries that still exist
That doesn’t mean tattoos are accepted across the board.
People with intimidating tattoos are perceived as more risky, according to research by Alyssa Grocutt, a PhD candidate at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. And when colleagues are perceived as more risky, they’re more likely to be ignored, interrupted or not taken seriously, Grocutt said.
The stigma survives in some industries, perhaps, more than others.
“Do you want your lawyer in court with a face tattoo?” Wildenboer said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
That being said, there are always surprises. Once, in traffic court, Wildenboer spotted a client of his. The client, an older man, had a full back piece and half sleeves. That day in court, with his tattoos artfully covered, he was the judge.
“He came in the shop (later) and I introduced myself. I was like, ‘I don’t know if you remember me, but I was in your courtroom,’” Wildenboer said. “In his profession, you would never know it.”
Can a company not hire you because you have a tattoo?
A company can “absolutely” decide to not hire someone because of their tattoos, said Lior Samfiru, a Toronto-based employment lawyer and co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
“It’s because having a tattoo is not a protected right, such as age or disability or sexual orientation,” Samfiru said. “Having tattoos … is not a right that’s protected under human rights legislation.”
The same goes for workplace policies requiring an employee to hide their tattoo. If an employee doesn’t comply, they can be fired — but it would be considered without cause, and the employee would be entitled to severance, Samfiru said.
The exception is for tattoos that are part of an ethnic or religious custom. In that case, deciding to fire, or not hire, that person based on the tattoos would be considered religious discrimination.
Samfiru said it’s a good idea to tell your employer if you have a tattoo not visible during the interview process that may be visible when working.
Even if the law hasn’t changed, norms have. For some jobs, like a barber, tattoos might even be an asset.
“If they’re dressed like Ned Flanders, then I don’t want them to come anywhere near me,” Halinski said. “I only look for (barbers) that have some tattoos, have some character.”
