Tattoos in the workplace: yay or nay?

Tattoos are not just for bikers, gang-members and rockstars anymore. In New York City alone, there are almost 1,400 licensed tattoo artists offering their services in more creative and varied ways than ever, The New York Times reports. In many cases, these businesses employ highly skilled body artists that take their craft as seriously as any creative individual in the corporate world does.

Tattoos have been used for centuries in many cultures to represent changes in status, symbolizing passage into adulthood or even introduction into a group, such as the military. Even more recently, tattoos have become a fashion accessory displayed by celebrities and influential figures. The fact of the matter is, as more baby boomers retire, tattoos will become more prevalent in our society.

Still, the most debated aspect of tattoos is whether they are acceptable in the workplace. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to that question. The business and industry decides if tattoos are taboo, and there is little protection for employees who choose to display their body art.

It is not uncommon for businesses to still require employees to cover up their tattoos. While an employee may enjoy displaying important personal images on his body, the courts consistently rule that employers have the right to set boundaries and policies on how much body art an employee may display, reports a 2008 American Bar Associate article.

However, with the baby boomer labor force retiring, employers have made great exceptions to their tattoo policies. The need to welcome in a number of new talented employees that have tattoos and piercings is often more crucial to keeping a business afloat than what many consider to be an outmoded dress code. That is to say, not every industry is running to job markets and looking for the most decorated candidates, but they are not discrediting people simply because of their choice of artistic expression.

In a 2010 PEW Research Center report, about 40 percent of adults between 18 and 29 had at least one tattoo, and of those individuals, 50 percent have more than one.

Creative fields are more accepting of such personal expression because in a lot of ways, it correlates with their overall image - business through creative expression. Contrastingly, if a company is more conservative, it will naturally be opposed to displaying excessive body art, and understandably so. When it comes down to it, an employee is an ambassador for a company's image, and that is the main reason why tattoos won't be widely accepted in every industry quite yet.