beware ~ tattoo may prejudice your employment....

Following the second One-Day International between England and India in January 2013, when his last 11 deliveries cost 33 runs, he gained the dubious honour of establishing himself as the bowler with the worst career economy rate (given a minimum of 1000 balls bowled….not all that bad a bowler…….he gets into news….

It is the South African born English cricket - Jade Winston Dernbach who plays for Surrey County Cricket Club and England. He was called up to the senior team as a replacement for Ajmal Shahzad for the knock out stages of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and made his Twenty20 and ODI debuts later that year against Sri Lanka.

A tattoo is a form of body modification, made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattooing has been in vogue in many cultures ~ though the reasons might differ from Western and other Nations.  By some accounts, the island of Great Britain takes its name from tattooing; Britons translates as "people of the designs", and Picts, the peoples who originally inhabited the northern part of Britain, literally means "the painted people.

Dernbach is known for his body tattoo……………….perhaps some of you might be impressed and inspired by him… following and having tattoo is purely a personal decision….. but there are some Companies which have anti-tattoo policy and thus you could be prejudiced for employment as this news reported in NZ Herald of date.  

Air New Zealand has been widely criticised for turning away an aspiring stewardess with a moko in the skin of her forearm. NZ Herald reports that Air New Zealand is standing by its policy of not allowing visible tattoos on customer service staff after an internal review. The airline's policy came under scrutiny when Claire Nathan was dismissed from an interview for a hostess position in January because she had a Maori motif on her forearm.

Air New Zealand was criticised as hypocritical for the move because it carries a koru in its logo and has used heavily tattooed celebrities, such as pop singer Gin Wigmore and the All Blacks, in advertising campaigns. But cultural development manager Andrew Baker said today the airline carried more than five million customers internationally each year and it was important they felt as comfortable as possible when flying with the national carrier.

"The reality is that many of our international customers, particularly on Asian services, would not feel comfortable interacting with staff with visible tattoos in the close confines of the aircraft cabin environment - regardless of whether the tattoos are considered to be cultural or otherwise. "We have thoroughly reviewed this issue as well as noted the positions and comments from other airlines in our region that have similar policies to ours. These include Virgin Australia, Qantas, Hawaiian Airlines, and Jetstar.'' Mr Baker said no matter how comfortable New Zealanders were with tattoos, the company must acknowledge the concerns of all customers. It did not have the same restriction on the display of visible tattoos in non-customer facing roles, he said.

When the airline's policy was made public last month, Prime Minister John Key weighed into the debate and said he was surprised at the company's attitude. Mr Key, who is also Minister for Tourism, disagreed with the airline's argument that it could put off tourists. "It would be a problem if it did because a lot of the Maori events they go to, there's lots of tattoos,'' he said.

~ and that is not a lone incident….. Daily Mail reports that a mother-of-three was sacked from her new job in a department store cafe after customers complained about her tattoo.  Joanne Stronach, 39, who has the positive mantra 'everything happens for a reason' inked on her arm, was just three weeks into a six-month trial in the coffee lounge at Wetherells in Selby, North Yorkshire, when she was told she was unsuitable for the position. Ms Stronach said she was left 'angry' and 'humiliated' after bosses told her her body art - a celebration of her three children - would offend older patrons at the traditional department store.

Ms Stronach said the words 'Believe everything happens for a reason... just believe' on her arm were especially personal. 'Its a very personal one that means everything I do is because of my love for my children,' she said. 'The tattoos were all done by Steve Dagg in Selby. One features my daughter's name, Lacey, with a heart, and 'Love' with two hearts and on my other arm, it says 'Everything happens for a reason' with butterflies. 'I was even told by one customer that she liked my butterfly. 'I know so many people who shop there as I've worked around town for 13 years. None of them seemed to have been offended,' she said, adding that her factory worker boyfriend, 29, had been supportive. 

Store director Mark Wetherell wished Ms Stronach well for the future but said customer comments had to be taken seriously. He said: 'We have to look after our customers, they're our lifeline and we have to take their comments very seriously.  'Joanne was unsuitable for this position but we wish her well for the future.' His wife, Rebecca, added: 'Being in the coffee lounge, with food and hygiene, there was no actual way of covering the tattoos up. 'It's nothing personal, she was a good worker. I would give her a good reference, I've no problems there at all. The main issue was her personal appearance,' she added.

So, better be careful…………..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

7^th June 2013

NZ news reproduced from NZ Herald and UK news from Daily Mail.