Harrods Saleswoman Forced To Quit After Refusing To Wear Makeup

by Julia Rubin | 6:00 pm, July 5th, 2011

Melanie Stark was a saleswoman at Harrods until she was “driven out” after refusing to wear makeup. Let’s discuss.

Harrods has an involved dress code (though it certainly doesn’t rival UBS’s) that, among other things, mandates that all female employees wear “full makeup at all time”. Well, fine. If Stark chose to work at Harrods, she must comply with these rules. Nobody was forcing her to work there. However, she had worked there a whole five years before being told she needed to follow the code. And therein lies the problem.

The 24-year-old alleges she was sent home twice and was forced to work in the stockroom, as well as told to take a makeup tutorial. Her manager gave her an ultimatum: wear makeup or leave. Harrods briefly backed down, but the issue was indeed brought up again, and Stark decided to resign.

“I was appalled. It was insulting. Basically, it was implying it would be an improvement. I don’t understand how they think it is okay 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. Make up can change your features completely, especially if I was to wear all of what they were asking. I would look like a different person to me. And I never chose to look like that.”

So why the change of heart on Harrods’ end after five years of seemingly not caring whether or not Stark wore makeup? Senior management saw her during a visit to her department, and they were not pleased. They apparently had never seen her in the five years prior. Explained a Harrods spokesperson: ”All our staff are subject to a dress code which they sign up to on joining the company, which relates to an overall polished appearance. Our records show that discussions with Melanie Stark concerned a general lack of adherence to the dress code. However, no action was taken and she subsequently decided to leave the business of her own accord with no reference made to dress code.”

Do you think Harrods is in the wrong?

[via The Guardian]

Harrods Harrods rules Melanie Stark

http://www.delectablychic.com CynthiaC.M.

Why wasn’t this enforced from the get-go anyway?
Kidney_pie

Hey, I was kicked out of Harrods a few years ago because I had a sleeveless shirt on… That look is ok for women but men (even fit) are not allowed in without full sleeves…. so be it, their place, their rules.
Sophie von Oertzen

I’ll probably be shouted down for saying this but have you looked at her picture (it’s on the Guardian’s website)? If Harrods asks for a polished look and she wants to achieve this without make-up than she’s in the wrong place. I’m not saying she’s not good-looking (I actually find her quite pretty in her own way) but she certainly doesn’t look polished without make-up on (although some people have no idea how to put make-up on so maybe that’s why she never tried at work…).
Anonymous

I completely agree with you. Also, Harrods is a luxury establishment and they have standards. If you don’t want to comply then don’t work there.
Cassieleigh

Geeze this is dumb. Harrods did nothing wrong. It’s not insulting, it’s just the way it is. I worked at a store where we had to wear “full face” because we happened to sell makeup among other things. When I worked at a clothing store we could only wear the brands of jeans we sold and no other. It’s a sales technique. Also – a company can make their own regulations and change them. If you don’t like, don’t work there. Good grief!
Anonymous

I love makeup, I really do. But all I’m saying is: men do NOT wear makeup in a work environment. Why should the makeup rule be applied to women? Men don’t have to spend an x amount of their own personal unpaid time to put on makeup, so why should a woman?
http://www.delectablychic.com CynthiaC.M.

Guys who work at Harrods have to look well-groomed as well. They have very specific rules about what kind of facial hair is allowed (basically, no looks that are considered trendy). And if a man wants to wear make-up, he (probably) can’t.
Abader

The problem is, some people just can’t wear makeup. If that’s the case, she’s at the wrong job.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZVOZ2YCIEIE47KRPR7E5HCDJJU Cris

They were both in the wrong; her for working there and Harrod’s for being inconsistent in enforcing their own policy. If they had been adamant from day one that she MUST show up for work wearing makeup or be sent home every time she didn’t, she would either have quit early on or never taken the job in the first place. But instead, they sent her mixed signals for five years (!), so of course she didn’t take them seriously; why should she? Who would? Bottom line is, if she does not want to be required to wear makeup then she doesn’t belong in that job, AND a business is responsible for being clear and consistent in their requirements from the get-go, because if they aren’t, this is where they end up.
Anonymous

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/

Harrods Saleswoman Forced To Quit After Refusing To Wear Makeup

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