Dorchester hotel staff rebel over 'downright offensive' grooming rules

Female employees at The Dorchester hotel in London are said to be "livid" over a list of personal grooming rules issued to staff that forbids oily skin and unshaven legs.

The swanky Park Lane hotel prides itself on old-fashioned decorum, but some members of staff now say that the emphasis on traditionalism is intruding into their personal lives.

While some of the regulations seem to be common sense – such as brushing teeth and wearing deodorant – others have been branded "downright offensive".

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For instance, all visible body hair is forbidden, including leg hair, even if covered by tights. The note also instructs female employees to arrive for work with make-up on, although it takes issue with "garish tones", the Daily Mail reports.

Oily skin is a strict no-no for staff at the hotel, which regularly hosts world leaders and celebrities, while female employees are instructed to get regular manicures.

An employee who did not wish to be named told the Mail that the demands were "disgusting".

"This list is like something out of the dark ages, and downright offensive," the staff member told the newspaper.

Sam Smether, chief executive of the women's rights organisation the Fawcett Society, said it was "completely unacceptable for any woman to be told what she should wear and how she should look" in the workplace.

"Employers should concentrate on what enables people to do a good job and what drives productivity," she said. "This is 2016 not 1970."

The Dorchester has not commented, but strict personal grooming rules are not new to the hospitality business, says the Mail. Disney theme park employees were once banned from growing facial hair, although they are now permitted "moustaches and beards no longer than a quarter of an inch long".