So, I have a question, and I need to know if I'm overreacting or not.
I want to preface this by saying that the company I work for now is the best company I've ever worked for. The company culture is very caring, my job stays at work and doesn't come home with me, decent pay, and good benefits once you hit a year's employment or get your status switched to full time rather than seasonal. They respect pronouns and chosen names, and the coworkers are fantastic. While I wouldn't be upset if I ended up fired, I am thankful for this job being as good as it is.
However, there's something bothering me. The uniform policy is a struggle. When I went to my interview, I wore a tichel – a Jewish women's headscarf. I veil/cover my hair with varying headscarves 99% of the time outside of work. However, the uniform of this job is a costume of sorts, that requires a hair peice (a curly ponytail or bun) and a bow headband – it is loosely based on a disney-fied recreation of a historical style.
When I mentioned it while going over the uniform policy, I was told there was absolutely no workaround for it to be more covering – without asking a higher up, or the head of wardrobe dept. I needed the job and it was the highest paying thing I could find within my job radius, so I said I guess that's fine, and have rolled with it since May.
However the longer I work here, the more I have come to resent not being able to cover my hair, when men likely would be able to wear something like a yarmulke or Sikh turban. I work consistent overtime hours, and it has come to a point where I feel uncomfortable, because I'm wearing my headcovers so infrequently, it's like a loss of faith. As an aside, my faith does not require me to cover my hair, it is a choice I make.
My question is, did I shoot myself in the foot by going along with it, or can I still take it to our HR department? Additionally, our HR department claims they have an open door policy, but literally everyone tells me that you should never go directly to HR, but always go through management first – which seems sketch.
Any thoughts or advice on this would help!