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guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:04 pm
by [xeno]Julios
Was talking to gf last night, who works in an office, and was a bit shocked to discover that guys are expected to have their faces shaved for work (she's gonna double check today if that's actually official dress code policy).

I have little to no office job experience so am kinda in the dark here.

So is it true? - is it more than just a cultural expectation - i.e. is it actually part of the dress code for some offices?

what if u just wanna grow a beard - can u do that?

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:09 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
yes, it's part of dress code in a lot of corporations. i don't know what the consequences for growing a goatee or having a beard in our headquarters are but it is most certainly frowned upon. also, suit/tie only as expected.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:12 pm
by Dr_Watson
it's been "frowned upon" every where i've worked... but i've also never followed it and not caught any shit for being hairy. i think its one of the things they like to say but can't really enforce. would be a bit of a civil liberties snafu to force someone to change their body image or get fired.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:12 pm
by scared?
lol jobs...seriously...lol...

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:13 pm
by Doombrain
We're expected to be tidy and dress in a business fashion which, if you don't have a beard, means keeping a shaven face.

Now move on Julios, we don't want another 8 page shit fest about the moral implications of the razor.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:16 pm
by werldhed
I guess it depends what company. I've heard of it being policy for some places, but none I've ever had experience with.
I know my dad's office doesn't require it, nor the office a friend works at, nor does my brother's architect firm. There's certainly no dress code here in my lab, nor at any other I used to work at.

<--- not a tool. :cool:


( I do know there are some jobs around here that have a shave-only policy, and it turned into a big ado because a muslim was fired when he refused to shave his allahbeard)

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:17 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
i take that back. it's not part of the dress code on a written format anyway for HQ members.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:19 pm
by phantasmagoria
I don't have a beard partly because even at 23 I only have to shave weekly, but also because I work a lot with styrene and dust and as such wear a face mask a lot of the time, and a beard would interfere with the seal between my face and the mask, so I suppose I do have to shave for work.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:22 pm
by seremtan
well, i work for a business school, so yeah

i manage to get out of wearing a tie though. i think i'm the only guy in the building other than junior maintenance staff who gets away with it

edit: oh wait, you mean shaved as in no beard, not shaved as in no stubble. there are a few beardies at my place (it may be a private company but it's a private company owned by a university), some of whom appear to be emulating charles darwin in facial hirsuteness terms

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:22 pm
by Don Carlos
Nope - but i do as all i can muster beard wise is a dodgey Jack Sparrow jobbie.

People think I spend time styling it though, thats the thing!

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:28 pm
by R00k
I've had a goatee for years without any problems.

I shaved it off a couple months ago though, just because I felt like it.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:30 pm
by [xeno]Julios
I shave about once every 5 days or so, so it appears I'd not be able to to get away with that in many offices.

I'm kinda interested in an anthropological/historical perspective on shaving - when did male primates first take sharp tools to their face and remove hair?

When did shaving become associated with being proper and upper class?

etc...

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:33 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
i'd try a different forum.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:20 pm
by feedback
Hell yes. I have to be cleanly shaven every day, the exception is a "well groomed mustache". Sideburns can't be below the ears, and men's hair cannot touch the shirt collar.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:37 pm
by mik0rs
Nah, I've turned up with some extremely dodgy stubble and no-one bats an eyelid.. except me when I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror, because as I said it looks dodgy, hence crap.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:40 pm
by Nightshade
lol, if I wanted to keep dealing with that shit I would have stayed in the Corps.
That said, I don't HAVE to shave, but it's probably frowned upon. Clients don't want to discuss complex test system requirements with a dirtbag-looking biker type. I shave every other day because it bugs the shit out of me if I don't.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:08 pm
by DooMer
What, like your legs? What line of work are you fags in?

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:11 pm
by Transient
One summer I worked on a food production line. We didn't have to shave, but if we sported facial hair, we had to wear a beard net.

I shaved.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:14 pm
by axbaby
i have been warned about my facial hair by several companies . i find shaving such a hassle

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:25 pm
by Doombrain
[xeno]Julios wrote:I shave about once every 5 days or so, so it appears I'd not be able to to get away with that in many offices.

I'm kinda interested in an anthropological/historical perspective on shaving - when did male primates first take sharp tools to their face and remove hair?

When did shaving become associated with being proper and upper class?

etc...
oh haw haw

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:28 pm
by Foo
I get away with it at my office, if I let it grow I have a fucked up patch all around my chin from where I messed up mah face in a mountain bike accident way back when, so I can't grow anything that looks decent.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:36 pm
by menkent

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:08 pm
by Ryoki
Depends on the job you're in (IT people for instance get away with more of this kind of stuff than people who go out and shake hands with clients) and it depends on the company (big companies usually means stricter rules than small offices, a 'creative' kind of corporation has lax or no rules whereas a law firm certainly has very strict ones).

I'm surprised you ask, it seems like a common knowledge / sense thing to me.
Nightshade wrote:I shave every other day because it bugs the shit out of me if I don't.
innit just.
I shave daily most of the time actually, it bugs me heavily.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:11 pm
by zeeko
yeah i get that.... central american stache going on when i don't shave.

Re: guys - do you have to shave for work?

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:18 pm
by Chupacabra
I'm quite glad it bugs me not to shave and it forces me to shave...otherwise I'd be going mesquite pretty often.