BIZARRE HR      CORPORATE DRESS CODE 

US - Disneyland has loosened its strict dress code and grooming guidelines to allow employees to show up for work with a beard or goatee.

Reputed for implementing one of the strictest dress code policies in the corporate world, Disney's no-facial-hair policy was lifted in 2000 to allow employees to grow moustaches like their co-founder Walt Disney. Starting 3 February this year, they will be allowed to grow longer facial hairs that are kept within a quarter of an inch, the LA Times reported. 

According to Disney Look, the company's legendary dress code, employees are nevertheless still required to abide by an extensive list of guidelines which include: no soul patches, body piercings, long fingernails, visible tattoos, and "extreme" hair styles or colours. 

"Disney Look guidelines are periodically reviewed in relation to industry standards, as well as the unique environment of our theme parks and resorts," Betsy Sanchez, a Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman, said. "While we are careful to maintain our heritage and the integrity of our brand, a recent review of our guidelines led to a decision that an update was appropriate at this time."

"They want to stay tradition-based, and they also want to be current," David Koenig, author of Mouse Tales and a chronicler of Disney culture, added. "They don't want it to become a museum of what entertainment used to be like." 

And because a clean-cut image is something customers have come to expect from Disney, every employee on the theme park is part of a grand production, Koenig explained. "They are casting characters, rather than hiring employees... If the person driving the omnibus looks like a punk rocker, it doesn't coincide with the show they are trying to put on."
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