HR Workforce Solutions
By Nonprofits, For Nonprofits
Question: What is natural hairstyle discrimination?
Answer: Natural hairstyle discrimination occurs when natural or protective hairstyles (most often worn by Black women) are prohibited or are the basis of different or unfavorable treatment. That sounds a bit technical, but what it usually looks like in practice is dress codes that prohibit corn rows, locs, or afros, and hiring managers rejecting candidates with natural hair because they don’t have a “professional” look about them.
Some states have made natural hairstyle discrimination illegal by amending their employment discrimination laws to specifically define race as including traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles include (but aren’t limited to) afros, bantu knots, curls, braids, locs, and twists.
In states that have made natural hair discrimination illegal, employees have legal protections so that they don’t have to do something special or difficult with their hair (such as straighten it) just to come to work. It also means they don’t have to change this part of their racial identity for work. Ideally, they don’t have to worry about not being hired, being demoted, or being considered unprofessional because they wear a natural or protective hairstyle.
Whether or not you operate in a state that has made natural hairstyle discrimination illegal, we strongly recommend that you allow and encourage employees to wear hairstyles that work for them, whether that’s because they are easy, protective, or part of how they identify themselves.
This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.
This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.
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UST maintains a secure site. This means that information we obtain from you in the process of enrolling is protected and cannot be viewed by others. Information about your agency is provided to our various service providers once you enroll in UST for the purpose of providing you with the best possible service. Your information will never be sold or rented to other entities that are not affiliated with UST. Agencies that are actively enrolled in UST are listed for review by other agencies, UST’s sponsors and potential participants, but no information specific to your agency can be reviewed by anyone not affiliated with UST and not otherwise engaged in providing services to you except as required by law or valid legal process.
Your use of this site and the provision of basic information constitute your consent for UST to use the information supplied.
UST may collect generic information about overall website traffic, and use other analytical information and tools to help us improve our website and provide the best possible information and service. As you browse UST’s website, cookies may also be placed on your computer so that we can better understand what information our visitors are most interested in, and to help direct you to other relevant information. These cookies do not collect personal information such as your name, email, postal address or phone number. To opt out of some of these cookies, click here. If you are a Twitter user, and prefer not to have Twitter ad content tailored to you, learn more here.
Further, our website may contain links to other sites. Anytime you connect to another website, their respective privacy policy will apply and UST is not responsible for the privacy practices of others.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use for our site is subject to change.
