The teen-focused clothing brand said Friday that it will no longer hire store employees based on their body type or physical attractiveness. The change is part of an overhaul of store policies designed to put more emphasis on customers and less on the way employees look.
It comes as the company tries to remake its image following the departure of long-time CEO Michael Jeffries late last year. Jeffries was a polarizing figure that arguably hurt the company's image more than he helped it over the past few years.
He was criticized for comments he made about only wanting "cool, good-looking people" to wear his company's clothes. The shift in strategy comes as Abercrombie is struggling to turn around a steep slump in sales. Related: Abercrombie struggling to bring sexy back. Employee appearance: Abercrombie ANF is changing its hiring and dress code policies to be "more inclusive and diverse.
In addition to no longer hiring workers based on their looks, Abercrombie will stop requiring store employees to wear Abercrombie clothes exclusively.
You get the idea. An anonymous contributor to xojane described her experiences of working for American Apparel in The logic behind these appearance standards is that they are aspirational. This devalues the labour and skills involved in retail work. Sexy, all-American white teenagers? In the UK, it is illegal to discriminate against employees on the grounds of age unless the job legally requires you to be of a certain age, for example if it involves serving alcohol , sex, religion, gender including gender reassignment , race, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and marriage.
Employment Discrimination laws in the United States protect employees and prospective employees from discrimination based on race, sex, religion, physical disability, age, and national origin.
Discrimination — defined as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment — is not illegal unless it is related specifically to race, age, or gender.
Clothing companies like American Apparel are able to hire staff according to appearance-based prejudices that would be virtually unheard of for other kinds of sale positions.
Although it is legal under California and federal law to consider physical appearance when making employment decisions, it is illegal to discriminate on many related grounds. Race discrimination charges may also be brought against employers who discriminate in hiring based on physical appearance.
For one, people always assume that you have to be attractive to work at Hollister. Another rumor about Hollister was that they required you to wear their clothes. Hollister Co.
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