BA trainee flight attendant sacked for not reapplying lipstick

[reddaisy]

A documentary called A Very British Airline on BBC4 has started tonight and it has been following a new batch of recruits as they are trained to become flight attendants.

A woman has just been sacked for not reapplying her lipstick (which looked fine to me but the filming could have been out of sync I suppose).

A Male Trainer/Manager said: "Jodie was asked on four occasions to reapply lipstick. If a customer had seen Jodie looking the way she was presenting herself it doesn't come across as if she is taking care in her appearance which is a basic standard (for BA)."

Did anyone else see this? I realise this is my second feminism chat post today but the male trainees clearly did not have to wear make-up, I imagine they had to look smart and presentable as well but this decision just smacks of blatant discrimination to me.

Are women with their buns expected to take their hair out of the bun in an emergency. My impression is that Siekhs are very good at keeping their hair out of the way and tidy.

The thing is BA get tons of applications, they can afford to dictate. If you don't like to wear make up then it's probably not the job for you. I do t wear make up around the house but for work and meetings absolutely

There's a lot of righteous outrage going on here, without the full knowledge of all the facts.

Hair is permitted to be worn in accordance with your religious beliefs, so long as you are tidy and able to demonstrate you can correctly out on a smoke hood during both initial qualification and annual refresher training. It must be tied back in such a way that it is hygienic for the preparation and serving of food. Several hairstyles are given as examples in the uniform standards booklet, including buns but also including chignons, pony tails and French pleats. The only specific rule is the hair must not touch the collar, and that applies to men and women. Beyond that, exactly how you style your hair is up to you. There are very specific rules about facial hair for men too. It must be styled in such a way that is tidy and not impeding a smoke hood. If you wear a turban or headscarf, it must be uniform standard (yes, there are BA issue turbans and headscarves,) and it is a requirement that you demonstrate once a year that you can remove it and fit a smoke hood correctly in a reasonable timeframe. It is not discriminatory to ask that a crew member demonstrate this, and it is not acceptable to refuse to do it on religious grounds. It is a known part of the job.

As for the original cause of all this kerfuffle - lipstick. It's part of the uniform standards guide which is a requirement of all employees to follow. The detail it goes into is minute, both for men and for women. Yes, it is expected that women wear makeup, with a minimum of lipstick being specified. It doesn't make cabin crew serve food or arm the door slides for effectively. But there is an image to be upheld in most customer service roles and a certain level of personal grooming is generally held to be essential. Because BA have over 25000 uniformed staff they have set out in a uniform handbook the requirements so that a certain level of uniformity is achieved across the company.

In the grand scheme if things, there are many hoops a BA employee must jump through to prove themselves capable of the job. Often when someone is not presenting themselves in accordance with the uniform standards guidelines they are slacking in other areas too. This particular situation (which I will confess I did not see) probably made for better - more controversial - TV than the candidate, say, failing to memorise the locations of all the torches on the aircraft.

Now, if you think cabin crew wearing lipstick is controversial, you have no idea the furore you could cause (in the right company, of course) by starting a debate as to whether female pilots should wear a hat. etc.

"which is a requirement of all employees to follow." But that isn't true is it? It's only female staff.

I mean only female staff are required to wear lipstick.

This isn't about the makeup aspect, but they gave someone a snapshot for being late due to an accident that wasn't her fault that's a bit ott imo

BackintheBox - the women talked on the programme about not wanting to wear a doughnut (which is used to make the big buns) and wanting to wear a ponytail instead but it wasn't procedure.

Haven't seen the program, but have been a uniform-wearing member of BA staff for nearly 2 decades - what would I know?

Is the episode going to be repeated?

Do they have similar standards for the men eg no stubble/no monobrow?

Yes. The uniform standards for men are also very strict.

Jackie I don't like BA for other reasons and will avoid it if possible but but don't think I've ever seen a male attendant with stubble. Tbh I'd be much less impressed by a stubbly male attendant than a female not wearing lipstick.

back just to say my dislike of BA has nothing to do with flight crew.

Ultimately it's about the wider societal issue of why we see the 'made up' look as 'more groomed'.

I'm guilty of this myself- I can understand the feminist critique of 'compulsory standards of femininity' for women but I still personally would always wear make up to a job interview, wedding, corporate event etc.

This is much wider & more complex than just BA's policy.

A rollicking good discrimination claim she has there. I cannot believe that Ba would engage in such blatant direct sex discrimination. What idiots!!!

backinthebox hello, regarding your comment that the BA policy and procedure set out exacting standards for dress code appearance, the requirement to wear lipstick for women strikes me as clear indirect sex discrimination, particularly in the context that women can be disciplined or dismissed for failure to follow this policy.

Tivara, trust me on this one. No one has ever been sacked for JUST not wearing their lipstick. But failure to adhere to uniform standards can sometimes be used to back up poor performance in several other areas. What makes good TV is not always what happens in real life.

I have always wondered at the legality of those clothes shops that require staff to wear the brand to work (usually giving staff a discount on 'uniform'). What about a potential employee outside the size range of the clothes?

Not unlawful to discriminate on the basis of size.