Tangs department store has allowed all front-facing staff to wear religious headgear with immediate effect, starting Aug. 21, 2020.

This applies to contractors as well.

Currently, corporate office and back-of-house colleagues already have the flexibility to wear religious headgear.

Tangs said that they have made an immediate change to their clothing policy, in an updated statement to Mothership.

The spokesperson said: "We have made an immediate change to ensure a policy that uniformly respects all our employees and our brand partners."

"Our corporate office, and back-of-house colleagues wear religious headgear, and we have standardised this practice to include all customer-facing front liners with effect Friday, Aug. 21, 2020," the spokesperson added.

The U-turn in rules came after an uproar ensued when it was revealed that a female employee was asked to remove her hijab at Tangs.

On July 29, part-time handbag promoter Nurin Jazlina Mahbob was working on her first day at a pop-up booth of Tangs at Tang Plaza in Orchard Road.

Staff of the department store then asked her to remove her head scarf.

Two female Tangs managers told her that she could not work in the store with a hijab on, as the company did not allow front-line staff to wear any headgear, Jazlina, 20, claimed.

The managers then explained to her that removing her hijab was "for the sake of professionalism".

Subsequently, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) said it was investigating.

Jazlina's employer has said she was not informed of the guidelines.

A July 27 briefing was only attended by another of her part-timers, the employer said.

Tangs acknowledged that there was a lapse in communication with the employer.

The uproar was addressed by President Halimah Yacob and Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad.

Both said discrimination has no place in the work place.

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Top image via Wikipedia.