12.16 Dress Code and Personal Appearance

Your dress and personal appearance play an important role in how the public perceives the Institution. It is the administration’s intent that work attire should complement an environment that reflects an efficient, orderly, and professionally operated Institution. Our dress code policy is intended to define appropriate professional attire.

Maintaining a professional appearance is critically important to fostering confidence and to exceeding the standards of the Institution.

The key point to sustaining an appropriate dress code is the use of common sense and good judgment and applying a dress practice that the Institution deems conducive to our professional environment. If you question the appropriateness of the attire, it probably isn’t appropriate.

Our dress code is based on modesty, neatness, cleanliness, professionalism, good taste and safety. Always strive to project a professional image that will set you apart from the students. (See the dress codes’ full description in the Employee Handbook.)

Medical faculty is allowed to wear scrubs and/or lab coats and sneakers due to safety concerns.

Department and Division Heads, Directors, and the Dean’s Office will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing this policy.

All faculty needs to wear appropriate undergarments, and hair must be neat and combed. All outer garments should fit properly and neat.

Hygiene and Grooming

Personal Cleanliness. Personal cleanliness, including proper oral hygiene and absence of controllable body odors, are a standard. Perfumes and fragrances should be kept to a minimum.
Hair. Shall be kept clean, neatly trimmed and well groomed.
1. All beards, moustaches and goatees should be trimmed and neat in appearance. Any apparatus that an employee uses to hold back hair must be clean. No hats, caps, or other head coverings shall be worn inside the building.
Fingernails. Should be kept clean, well-manicured and moderate in length, and appropriate for the work site.
Jewelry. Jewelry in pierced sites will be visible on the ear only. All other piercings must be covered or removed during work. Other jewelry should be appropriate for work. Reasonable accommodations will be made regarding religious, cultural or disability situations and will be reviewed on an individual basis for compliance with this policy.

Body Art and Tattoos.

Any new or current FNU employee with existing body art, tattoo(s), intentional scarring, body piercing (other than earlobe) or mutilation that is visible shall have the following options:

Employee shall cover existing body art, tattoo(s), intentional scarring, or mutilation by wearing long-sleeve shirts, pants, or any other clothing attire.
Cover the existing body art, tattoo(s), intentional scarring, or mutilation with a skin tone patch or make-up.
Body art, tattoo(s), intentional scarring, and/or mutilation that are not able to be covered or concealed are prohibited. This includes but is not limited to: Foreign objects inserted under the skin, pierced, split or forked tongue, and/or stretched out holes in the ears.

Employees shall not have any dental ornamentation. The use of gold, platinum, silver, or other veneer caps for the purposes of ornamentation are prohibited. Teeth, whether natural, capped, or veneered, shall not be ornamented with designs, jewels, initials, etc.

Reasonable Accommodation of Religious Beliefs. FNU recognizes the importance of individually held religious beliefs to persons within its workforce. FNU will reasonably accommodate a staff member’s religious beliefs in terms of workplace attire unless the accommodation creates an undue hardship to FNU or safety issue. Accommodation of religious beliefs in terms of attire may be difficult considering issues of safety for the particular employee as well as coworkers.

Anyone requesting a workplace attire accommodation based on religious beliefs should be referred to the Human Resources Department.

FNU reserves the right to determine at any time the practicality and appropriateness of the method or style of dress. Please consult your supervisor and the Human Resources Department should you have any questions as to what constitutes appropriate attire. If any employee violates the dress code and personal appearance policy, said employee will be disciplined accordingly and sent home without pay to change and report back to work. Employees sent home due to a violation of the dress code policy will receive an unexcused absence and will not be able to claim paid time for the length of the absence.

Repeated violation of this policy will lead to further disciplinary action up to and including employment termination.

At its discretion, FNU may allow employees to dress in a more casual fashion than is normally required. On these occasions, employees are still expected to present a neat appearance and are not permitted to wear ripped or disheveled clothing, athletic wear, or similarly inappropriate clothing.