Woman uses ‘malicious compliance’ to get around employer’s rule against pink hair
She wears terrible wigs on purpose, and they each have their own names.
Malicious compliance gets woman around work rule against pink hair.
Work dress codes aren't always practical, especially when you want to have a little room for self-expression. Most dress codes include things like no open-toed shoes, no spaghetti straps or no facial piercings, but some employers have a policy against unnatural hair colors.
One TikTok user, @emuhleeebee, whose first name is Emily, recently started a new job that does not allow for her brightly colored pink hair. Since she interviewed with her pink hair on full display and still got the job, she didn't realize until after she started that the company dress code called for natural hair colors.
If you thought, easy enough, she'll just dye her hair brown or some other natural color that would cover her pink hair, you'd be wrong. Emily decided to participate in what she calls "malicious compliance," meaning she will comply with the company policy but in the most obnoxious way possible.
Instead of dying her hair (which, as she explained in one of her videos, makes her feel her best), Emily simply decided to buy wigs to cover her distracting hair—hilariously bad wigs that are likely far more distracting than her pink hair but still within company policy.
In one of her videos, she's wearing a bald wig that has a dark brown ponytail sticking out of the middle. Another wig she has in her rotation is one that makes her look like George Washington. Each wig has its own name and personality when she uploads the videos to her social media account. Since the wigs are all a natural color, there's really not much the company can say as long as she's doing her job and staying within policy.
@emuhleeebee Replying to @iamrachelvray HOLLERING. #pinkhair #corporate #corporatelife #corporatehumor #corporatetiktok #maliciouscompliance #coloredhair #badwig #pinkhairdye
The argument for natural hair colors in a corporate environment feels a bit outdated. There are teachers, therapists and even doctors who sport brightly colored hair and tattoos up to their necks, and it doesn't hinder their ability to do their jobs. Unnatural hair colors have become so normal that a company having a policy against it may not be something that crosses someone's mind while job hunting.
But if having natural hair is a requirement, it would seem that during the job interview process, this would be something that's mentioned, yet Emily appears to have been blindsided. In a comment, someone asked if her job has said anything about her bad wigs yet.
"Not yet...emphasis on yet. I feel it coming," Emily replied.
@emuhleeebee @Jay Benke besite. You chose ANOTHER wig that I feel really hot in TBH 😭. #pink #pinkhair #coloredhair #corporatetok #corporateamericaburnout #corporatehumour #corporatelifebelike
The TikTok creator even set up an Amazon wishlist where people have been purchasing wigs for her to wear to work. It's an entertaining series on her page and certainly a creative way to stay in compliance. Hopefully, the company she works for has a sense of humor and is also getting a kick out of the malicious compliance like the rest of the internet.
