Melanie Stark, Harrods Employee, Driven Out For Not Wearing Makeup

Harrods sales assistant Melanie Stark was left with no choice but to quit her job after the luxury department store demanded that she wear makeup on the job, the Guardian reports.

The shop's dress code includes the following rule: "Full makeup at all time: base, blusher, full eyes (not too heavy), lipstick, lip liner and gloss are worn at all time and maintained discreetly (please take into account the store display lighting which has a 'washing out' effect)."

Stark, 24, said she was sent home twice and once forced to work in the stockroom after opting for an all-natural look. She was also offered a beauty tutorial.

Stark told the newspaper, "I was appalled. It was insulting. Basically, it was implying it would be an improvement. I don't understand how they think it is OK to say that. I know what I look like with makeup. I have used it, though never at work. But I just could not see how, in this day and age, Harrods could take away my right to choose whether to wear it or not."

She added, "I just could not go through with it all again. I wasn't going to compromise, but neither were they. And I felt it was time to move on."

The Daily Mail weighed in on the issue in a perfectly-British-titled article, "If you're too bolshy to put on some lippy, why should any firm give you a job?" Writer Liz Jones is in a tizzy over an apparently deeper issue at hand. Quoth Jones:

A recent survey of employers found the reason so many jobs are given to immigrant workers is simple: British workers don't want to make an effort.

They think the world owes them a living, and that their 'rights' as an individual are all that matters.

They have such enlarged egos, so much 'sense of self', that they cannot subjugate themselves to any one else any more. Not even the boss.

Why does a young woman think her desire to show us her open pores and ruddy complexion outweighs the wishes of her employer to present a polished face to the customer?

Yikes -- a little harsh, no? We're kind of thinking that Stark's refusal to wear makeup means she probably has great pores and an excellent complexion. Oh, and knows how to stand her ground.

For more bemoaning of the modern British workplace by the Mail, head over to DailyMail.co.uk.

Comments

[Difster]

10:13 AM on 07/11/2011

Employment is a contract. You trade your labor and perform what ever services the employer contracts you to perform and they give you a paycheck and whatever benefits, vacations, etc. that were agreed to.

Either side is free to negotiate alterations to the contract. For instance, you can say you no longer wish to work Thursday morning. The employer can either accept that or decline. If the employer declines, you have the choice of staying or leaving or trying to renegotiate and give something else to them in return.

If the employer requires a woman to wear make up because they want to present a unified fashion front to their customers, so be it. If you don't want to comply, you can attempt to renegotiate or quit your job and find another that meets your expectations. Why is this so hard? Why is this even a story?

As a man, if an employer suddenly started requiring me to wear lipstick and eye shadow, I'd refuse with the understanding that one of the consequences to that refusal would be to find myself looking for another job. There's no legal action to be taken, and I might complain bitterly to my friends, but there's nothing to be done, my employer and I reached an impasse.

This woman is making a huge deal out of nothing at all.

[thehappymos]

12:18 AM on 07/08/2011

Did she work the makeup counter? If so, then I would imagine makeup is part of the job requirement. If she didn't work the makeup counter then it seems silly that she needs makeup to do her job or sell anything else.

[Christopher Koulouris]

11:19 PM on 07/07/2011

All in all, we see that not much has changed since in the discourse on women’s rights circa Shakespeare or Jane Austen: a woman still has a right of choice: choice of mate, choice of marriage, choice to stay or choice to leave. Pretty limited choices, I’d say.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/07/shop-girl-‘driven-out’-of-job-for-not-wearing-makeup/

[Parade Keegan]

08:35 PM on 07/07/2011

Employee rules require she wear makeup, that's the end of it. I think she's being silly. When she realized she wasn't going to comply she should have quit. When she owns her own establishment she can set her standards. Silly woman.

[AaronMLong]

06:34 PM on 07/07/2011

At day's end, we need to accept that employment is, at its best, an at-will institution. If both the employee and the employer aren't getting what they require from the arrangement, then it's best if that arrangement not continue. So yeah, I think Melanie ought to find a job where they don't require her to work in make-up.

[sf girl]

05:51 PM on 07/07/2011

If she took the job knowing that makeup was a requirement she shouldn't complain.

[Spike5]

05:49 PM on 07/07/2011

Airlines usually have height requirements for flight attendants. I'm not very tall. I guess I should sue because they won't hire me. And some jobs require that employees be able to lift very heavy material. I'm not very strong, so I guess I should sue because they won't hire me. And other jobs require that people know sign language. I don't know it so I guess I should sue because they won't hire me.

Seriously. Doesn't a company have the right to set rules for whatever they think will help their business as long as they aren't discriminating and have a legitimate reason? I'm not a business owner but I do think that it's not unreasonable for a company to set rules and even to change them if they want to.

[TedEjr]

05:29 PM on 07/07/2011

I was about to post a comment about freedom of expression, yadda, yadda, yadda, and then I realized something.

This happened in the UK. I live in the US. I CANNOT apply my standards and country's laws to another country.

Their country, their rules, their standards, their RIGHT to conduct life as THEY see fit.

[deluk]

10:00 AM on 07/11/2011

and this sort of thing happens in the USA all the time....

[Difster]

10:15 AM on 07/11/2011

But you can apply basic common sense and the basic right to freedom of association as well as the basic principles of an employment contract.

[TedEjr]

12:26 PM on 07/18/2011

But you CANNOT apply US laws and standards to the UK.

If you are a US citizen, what would you say if Mexico DEMANDED that the US follow a law of theirs, which conflicted with a law of ours?

You would be outraged. And rightly so.

Allow Britons to be Britons. And let's leave the xenophobia in the closet. Where it belongs.

[leftyirishwoman]

04:06 PM on 07/07/2011

Not all of us women can wear makeup. I have allergic reactions to almost every product I try, except certain lipsticks. My compromise is to outline my eyes with permanent makeup (tatooed) and wear lipstick. I always wear makeup to job interviews.

[Spike5]

05:23 PM on 07/07/2011

If you are wearing makeup to the interview, would you feel that you had a right to object if they told you that you were expected to wear it every day? Or would you then complain, like this woman, that they have no right to tell you what to do?

[altohone]

09:10 PM on 07/06/2011

Powdered wigs are still worn so you know they are a little off, but this forced conformity to some no names idea of beauty is uncivilized.

[Lori Day]

06:19 PM on 07/06/2011

Melanie Stark should hire a lawyer and sue Harrods for discrimination. Are men required to wear makeup? I can just hear all the retorts to that question, but seriously, it does get to the core of the issue. When will women be valued for who they are inside and their job performance, not how beautiful/sexy they look?

[Spike5]

05:30 PM on 07/07/2011

I imagine the equivalent for men is being forced to be freshly clean-shaven or follow certain guidelines on facial hair. I doubt if Ms Stark had to shave every day before coming to work. Maybe the guys who have to shave should sue because she has different grooming standards.

[MsCanuck]

07:07 PM on 07/07/2011

She probably has to shave everyday, just different parts of her body.

[Difster]

10:19 AM on 07/11/2011

Oh, please, part of anyone's value is in how they look. For better or worse, it's human nature.

I would have no problem subcontracting some programming work to a 350 pound guy that eats Doritos all day and hasn't showered in a week as long as he gets the job done, but I'm certainly not going to let him represent me in a client meeting or even take him with me regardless of how much I value his programming skills. I've never even met most of my sub contractors and some of them may very well be just what I described, I don't ask.

This article hasn't got anything at all to do with the rights of a woman per se, it's about a basic employment contract.

You're totally backwards on this issue.

[lolly caust]

05:30 PM on 07/06/2011

There's a lot more to this story than what's contained in the article above, which focuses more on how the story has been reported than on the story itself.

here are some points to consider:

melanie stark worked at harrods for 5 years.
she did not wear makeup to her interview, or at any point thereafter
this only became an issue in august 2010, three months after harrods was bought by the nation of qatar.
she worked in HMV - music/video/games
she had stellar reviews

more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jul/01/harrods-dress-code-sales-assistant

[Tawnya Lee Dilley]

06:02 PM on 07/06/2011

Thank you for the additional information. But it leaves me with even more questions. If her appearance hadn't been a problem for 5 years, why did it suddenly become an issue?

[Dede Eagleburger]

09:43 PM on 07/06/2011

wow. Some of those details can make a difference,I wonder if the makeup policy changed at all after harrods was bought out?

[babybecks]

04:53 PM on 07/06/2011

Silly women. First they want to stop wearing makeup, next they'll want to start b u r n i n g their b r a s!

In all seriousness, I wear makeup everyday. But when I walk into a shop, I don't automatically assume that because the salesgirl looks great or not, in something, it will look the same on me. Clothes, perfume, and makeup are different on every woman. And any woman with half a brain knows this.

Did she know about the product she was peddling? If she were wearing lipstick but couldn't answer basic questions, I wouldn't buy anything from her whether she looked nice or not.

[TedEjr]

05:30 PM on 07/07/2011

Posted---Silly women. First they want to stop wearing makeup, next they'll want to start b u r n i n g their b r a s! (END)

Thank god for silly women.

Hehehehehe.

[Red45]

01:42 PM on 07/06/2011

Stupid woman. Her employer has every right to have a dress code that includes makeup. All she had to do is put on blush, mascara and lipstick to keep her job. Big deal. Stupid woman.

[Dede Eagleburger]

01:54 PM on 07/06/2011

I think most of the comments like this are from people who have a dress/appearance code at their work, like myself, and most of the opposite ones are from people who don't?

But why did you have to call her stupid twice?

[Red45]

02:31 PM on 07/06/2011

You know, I know so many people who haven't been able to find a job in the last 5 years--doing anything--that all I can think is how stupid she was to lose hers. My response makes sense from my viewpoint.

[Bootzey Jones]

08:38 PM on 07/06/2011

What happens if a woman doesn't wear makeup due to her religious affiliation. There is a lot of swine in makeup and some of us don't get down like that. ALSO... What if she has allergies to substances in makeup. Sorry. Makeup is something that no one has the right to mandate.

[Red45]

09:18 PM on 07/06/2011

Then why would she seek out a job that comes with a dress code she already knows she can't or won't comply with?

There are all kinds of jobs out there that have requirements only a certain group of people can comply with. For example, given my figure, I know for sure that I can't comply with Hooter's dress code so I haven't applied for a job there.

[Charra]

01:01 PM on 07/06/2011

Click through to the linked story. Who looks fresher and more appealing to you: Melanie Stark, or Liz Jones, the woman who wrote the story? (Incidentally, Liz seems to have forgotten her "lippy" in the photo of her above her byline. Think she's a "bolshy" too?)

Department stores don't sell looking good. They sell "product," and they sell the idea that you can't look good unless you buy and use "product." Someone like Melanie is probably a bad fit for Harrod's because she hasn't been brainwashed into following the fashion retailer philosophy.

[Red45]

01:43 PM on 07/06/2011

Many employers have dress codes for good business reasons. I think they have a right to do that.

[Spike5]

05:28 PM on 07/07/2011

Every place I've worked had dress codes. They weren't necessarily about makeup but they were appropriate for the image the business wanted to project. Years ago IBM made all its service personnel wear white shirts and ties, even though they were working exclusively in computer rooms and none of their competitors asked for anything more than neat and clean. But IBM wanted to present a certain image from top to bottom and that shirt and tie were part of it. I imagine there were many people who didn't like neckties. I suspect they either put up with it or went to work for a different company.