Tattooed woman complains: ‘I can’t get a job’

Tattoos play an important role in some jobs: as a tattoo artist, they are almost mandatory, as a bank employee, they are often viewed critically. A Welsh woman ‘didn’t stand a chance’ thanks to her body art.

Almost every fifth citizen in Germany has one (or more) tattoos, a 2019 survey found. Ipsos–Company Out of here. Loud Suddeutscher Zeitung The number of tattooed people in Germany has almost doubled over the past seven years. Whether it’s a unicorn, a geometric pattern or flowers in all colors – this type of body art has endless possibilities – but it’s always rejected.

Tattoos in career – a hindrance?

Yes, tattoos are not prohibited in professional life. It is inside Constitution Everyone has the right to the free development of their personality (Article 2). Therefore, an employer cannot prevent you from getting a tattoo or take action under employment law such as dismissal. But there are exceptions.

During careers, it may happen that a supervisor requests that tattoos be covered or hidden, especially in certain professions. For example, civil servants or persons working in the public sector, police officers and soldiers in the Bundeswehr may not have any tattoos on a “visible part of the body” (BVerwG 2 C 13.19). There are always exceptions, but the supervisor may request this. In financial and banking or even law firms, the perception is sometimes expressed that clients may draw negative conclusions from visible tattoos.

By: The supervisor can be strict and insist on hiding symbols that are clearly misogynistic or, for example, racist. If the manager’s instructions are ignored, the consequence is warning, caution or dismissal.

Tattooed Welsh woman can’t find job

Melissa Sloane (GB) from Wales also has a problem. What’s special here: She doesn’t just have one or two tattoos, but now more than 800. Compared to that Daily Star, a British tabloid, said he had a job cleaning toilets, but now can’t find anything like it. She reasons that she has tattoos all over her body, including her face: “I applied for a job cleaning toilets where I live and they didn’t want me because of my tattoos.”