Starbucks To Finally Let Employees Show Their Tattoos

After years of covering up, tattooed Starbucks employees will finally be allowed to let their ink show. Well, under most circumstances.

The Seattle-based coffee giant announced in a letter to employees Thursday that it has come up with a new set of dress code guidelines. Among the biggest changes is a shift in the company's tattoo policy: Employees will soon be able to openly display their tattoos at work, so long as the tattoos are tasteful and not on a worker's face or throat. The policy shift, which will take effect October 20, comes alongside a number of other adjustments to Starbucks employee benefits that will take place early next year, according to the company.

The decision comes just months after Starbucks employee Kristie Williams started a petition to alter the company's tattoo policy. The petition eventually garnered more than 25,000 signatures, and the company said it had begun to review its dress code and tattoo policy soon thereafter.

In a phone conversation with The Huffington Post, a Starbucks representative confirmed that the changes in the company's policy were based on recent employee feedback. Here's the new dress code in full (you'll notice the updated tattoo policy near the bottom-right corner):

The dress code still includes plenty of rules, however. For example, employees will continue to be limited to no more than two earrings per ear. Likewise, they aren't supposed to dye their hair in any "unnatural colors."

Previous to the change in policy, some Starbucks employees with tattoos told HuffPost that having to cover up caused problems.

“It looks really unappetizing when you’re helping a customer and your arms are covered in milk, but you can’t roll up your sleeves because, heaven forbid, they see your tattoos,” Sara Frandsen, a 25-year-old former Starbucks employee, told HuffPost in September.

Looks like the days of milky sleeves may finally be over.