Monday, April 26, 2004 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 9   HOME CONTENTS Wage Gap Exists for Women of Color Ask Liz Evaluating Your Company's Employee Handbook Camp WorldWIT Featured Seminar: Networking - A Whole New Perspective Past Issues Issue 8 April 19, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 8 Issue 7 April 12, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 7 Issue 6 April 5, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 6 Issue 5 March 29, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 5 Issue 4 March 22, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 4 Issue 3 March 15, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 3 Issue 2 March 8, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 2 Issue 1 March 1, 2004 Vol. 1 Issue 1 Ask Liz Dear Liz, I work for a university in the physical plant. There are only three women that are not secretaries employed here. I am a plant operator just like the men here; however, I have been asked to change my appearance so that I look like all the other men in the plant, i.e. no make-up, no nail polish, wear men's clothing, no jewelry, cut my hair, etc. There are men in the plant that wear earrings and have longer hair than I had before it was cut. Is there anything I can do short of changing my sex? --K Dear K,   This goes back to the basic rules for workplace attire in your company. Ask your manager or an HR person for the company handbook and check out the Dress Code section. I have never heard of a situation - whether the work is maintenance work, stationary engineering, metalworking etc - where a woman has been told not to wear makeup and/or to keep her hair short, apart from safety considerations. Any rules like that should be based on safety, i.e. you could be told to EITHER cut your hair or wear it up off your head for safety reasons. You may have an equal employment opportunity claim based on gender. If you are in the US, your state will have a department for equal employment opportunity claims investigation, and federally there is the EEOC. You can talk to a case investigator on the phone and tell him or her the situation if you feel that you are being discriminated against based on your gender. Outside the US, there are other agencies by country, and if you write to me again I can get you in touch with the right people. Good luck and thanks for writing. We need to keep calling attention to the wacky stuff that goes on in the workplace, even in 2004! Take care Liz Each week WorldWIT founder Liz Ryan answers readers' questions about business, work/life balance, post-millennial social issues for women and managing in professional and personal spheres.  Feel free to ask Liz about what's on your mind!  Send your question to Thinking Aloud's Editor, Lauren Calkins at laurenc@worldwit.org.  Questions are subject to editing for length and clarity. [PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION] WorldWIT Founder Liz Ryan LETTERS There are no letters for this article. To post your own letter, click Post Letter. [POST LETTER] Copyright © 2004 WorldWIT, Inc.. All rights reserved. Thinking Aloud is the weekly newsletter from WorldWIT, the global email discussion network for women in business and technology. Thirty thousand accomplished and resourceful women share business, technical, career, financial and 'life' advice on connected local email discussion groups like AustinWIT, BangaloreWIT and VancouverWIT. Join a free, friendly, moderated WorldWIT discussion group in your area at http://www.worldwit.org Write to us at info@worldwit.org WorldWIT uses IMN to create and publish Thinking Aloud. Go to http://worldwit.imakenews.com/worldwit_page.asp to see sample newsletters, templates, and sign up now for your free 30 day trial. PASS THIS ON TO A FRIEND

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