The Shipping company It lifts many of its long-standing strict rules about the personal appearance of its public-interacting employees – most of which are the delivery drivers’ army.

The changes loosen up the previous strict restrictions on facial hair (no Beards for most of the employees, Mustaches are limited above the lip crease), and how long can men wear their hair (not longer than collar length) and hairstyles (without afros or braids). While the styles are still work-friendly and not a safety concern, these specific limits have been eliminated.

Wednesday’s announcement also includes lifting of gender regulations, including rules such as the length of shorts for uniforms. The new rules, which I reported for the first time Wall Street Journal, Posted on the company’s internal website for employees.

“Our CEO, Carol Tomey, has heard the opinions of employees and has heard that changes in this area will make them more likely to recommend UPS as an employer,” UPS said in its statement.

EEOC said at the time: “EEOC alleged that UPS has failed to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices are inconsistent with its appearance policy and has failed to provide religious accommodations,” and also alleged that “UPS has fired employees who have kept their beards or long. For their religious beliefs in unsupervised locations in the back of the facility without contacting clients. “

The company then moved to allow religious and medical exemptions for facial hair.

But Wednesday’s announcement addresses a broader issue of unconscious bias reflected in the rules, according to Lucinda Duncalf, founder and CEO of AboveBoard.com, an executive recruitment firm that promotes diversity.

“These policies are obstacles from a different era and reflect the biases that hinder progress and performance,” said Duncalf, who hailed the change as “great news”.

“It did not make sense that” natural “hair was not allowed,” she added.

Teamsters Union represents approximately 300,000 UPS employees, and the previous rules apply to many of them. The federation praised the change.

“We are very pleased with this,” said Teamsters’ statement. “The federation has objected to previous guidelines for being too strict many times over the years through the grievance / arbitration process and contract negotiations. We have proposed meticulously trimmed beards during many past national negotiations.”

It was a big year for UPS. The volume of parcels handled by UPS increased 13.5% in the third quarter compared to the previous year, the company employed 39,000 new permanent employees in the second quarter of 2020, and intends to employ more than 100,000 additional seasonal employees at the peak of the holiday season. .