A tattoo in exchange for a job interview? Here’s why HR should avoid this recruitment tactic.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, except death and taxes…and maybe landing an interview with an employer after getting a tattoo?

At least that’s what Jordan Zietz, co-founder of AI startup LemonLime, guaranteed prospective candidates. Zietz offered interviews to anyone who got a tattoo at a party in July, Business Insider reported. He later issued an apology on LinkedIn, saying that he was wrong to take this approach.

His proposition feels antithetical to the progress that many workplaces have made to foster belonging and inclusivity, Laura Mazzullo, owner of NYC-based recruitment firm East Side Staffing, told HR Brew.

“We’ve wanted to move away from conformity, and, so, a tattoo that everyone would have is like the opposite of that,” Mazzullo said. “It’s like a robotic, conformist thing. It’s like saying you have to dress this way, or you have to look this way, or your appearance has to be this way.”

What’s going on? When there are more job seekers than opportunities, Mazzullo said, candidates may feel powerless. So if a leader asks them to do something, like get a tattoo, they may say yes out of desperation.

“At every single stage of the hiring journey, we should consider the employer brand, and the values of the organization,” Mazzullo said. “Let’s not take anything in the hiring journey and be haphazard or impulsive. Things should be thought out and strategic, and, frankly, pre-planned.”

For a leader “to not have that emotional intelligence to understand the impact of your role and responsibility…was a bit surprising,”, Susan Leger Ferraro, CEO and founder of consulting firm G3 Works, told HR Brew, noting the power dynamics also at play.

“To basically ask these people to do something permanent to their body, without understanding his positional power at that point and the implication of it, is irresponsible as a leader,” Ferraro said, later adding “there’s so many people out there struggling to actually land a job, and to not be aware of that dynamic and exploiting their vulnerability? Irresponsible.”

HR, watch out. HR is responsible for ensuring their organization’s adherence to hiring laws, and while asking a candidate to get a tattoo is not necessarily illegal, Steven Nevolis, partner at law firm Thompson Hine, told HR Brew it could be seen as “being done in poor taste.”

“What we always tell employers is you need to just only focus on the qualifications for the job,” Nevolis said. “The minute you start bringing in other issues, other potential qualifications that have nothing to do with the job, then you start to open yourself up to potential claims of discrimination.”

It is illegal for employers in the US to discriminate against candidates and employees on the basis of eight protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. Some states, like New York and Illinois, have also extended laws to protect against hair discrimination.

Tattoos aren’t a protected characteristic, Nevolis said, but an employer that asks a candidate to get a tattoo could open itself up to a discrimination lawsuit if the candidate can’t comply due to religious or medical reasons.

Judging a candidate based on their tattoos, or asking them to get one, is “appalling and abhorrent,” Mazzullo said, and companies shouldn’t make hiring decisions based on any aspect of appearance.

“Employers today that are hiring really well and creating cultures that are really inclusive, and inviting, and psychologically safe have in common that they’re letting people be individuals,” she said.