THE ARTICLE AT A GLANCE
Key takeaways
Practical appearance rules and a clear leave-donation process help you support employees without overlooking legal protections.
- Base hairstyle rules on job needs. A health or safety reason for pulling hair back differs from requiring a particular sleek or smooth appearance.
- Check hair-discrimination protections. Review applicable CROWN Act and similar protections before enforcing hairstyle requirements that may affect natural hair textures.
- Set leave-sharing rules before transfers. Check sick-leave restrictions and establish a handbook policy explaining when and how donated time may be used.
- Document donated hours. Get the donor’s request in writing and update the timekeeping provider when changing employees’ leave balances.
In this week’s edition of the HR Base Camp roundup, we answer an important question regarding the CROWN Act, which severely limits your ability as an employer to enforce dress code policies regarding an employee’s hairstyle. Also, we discuss how to handle a situation where one employees wants to “donate” their accrued time off to another employee. Read on to learn more!
- I want all of my front desk staff to wear their hair in a sleek ponytail. Is it okay to add this to our dress code policy?
- Can employees “donate” accrued time off to other employees?
I want all of my front desk staff to wear their hair in a sleek ponytail. Is it okay to add this to our dress code policy?
This may seem like a harmless request, but we strongly advise against enforcing this kind of specific hairstyle requirement.
There’s a difference between simply requiring hair to be pulled back and requiring that hair be “sleek” or “smooth.” The truth is, some hair textures and features can make meeting those standards challenging and costly. Once you try to enforce these kinds of specific standards, not only can it make it harder for all employees to comply, but it also opens the door for those who can’t to potentially make a discrimination claim.
There’s no federal law that addresses hairstyles, but it’s still important that you consider whether the policy that you put in place has a legitimate job related health or safety reason. Using the same example as before, requiring employees to have their hair pulled back makes sense from a safety and health perspective – you don’t want hair getting onto work surfaces or in patients’ faces if the employee is treating them up close. But requiring that the updo be “sleek” doesn’t hold up the same way.
And while there’s no federal law, almost half of the country has enacted some version of the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race-related hairstyles. Even more states and cities are expected to pass it in the coming years. If you currently live somewhere where the CROWN Act is already in effect, enforcing a specific kind of hairstyle policy is even riskier.
Can employees “donate” accrued time off to other employees?
We get this question often. Typically it’s because there’s an employee struggling with an illness or caring for a loved one and they’ve quickly used up all their time. We love that so many of you have compassionate employees that offer up their own time to provide assistance to another team member.
Allowing employees to donate their time is allowed, but there’s a few things to consider before you make any changes to their time off banks. First, you need to check whether it’s compliant with any state sick leave laws you may be subject to. Some states have restrictions on how sick leave can be used. This step is extremely important, because violating sick leave laws can come with hefty fines.
You also want to make sure that you have a handbook policy that clearly details why and how time off can be shared. If this is an option that you want to offer your employees, we recommend adding the policy to your handbook right away. Ideally, it should be in place before any kind of “donation” happens.
And finally, make sure that any requests to donate time are put in writing by the employee that is giving up their hours. Don’t forget to let your timekeeping company know if you make any changes to your employees’ time off bank!
We recommend talking to an HR Expert if you receive this request from an employee or are considering adding it as a benefit so that they can check the applicable state laws and draft up a compliant policy for you.
At CEDR, we help employers protect their businesses and build stronger teams. Because stronger teams build better workplaces, and better workplaces make better lives.
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