Employee Appearance Policy

General Uniform Guidelines:

We here at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zoombezi Bay, Safari Golf Club and The Wilds want to be able to provide the absolute best guest experiences for everyone who comes through our gates! Because of this, we want to look our best.
Here is how we do that.


Employees in uniform:

  • Clean, non-wrinkled, well-fitting, current-year uniforms.
  • Well fitting, tucked in uniform shirts (unless the shirt style is intended to be worn out). (Provided)
  • Khaki shorts (no shorter than fingertip length) or pants. Stretch pants are not permitted.
  • Jeans are only permitted at times designated by the Leadership Team. Jeans must be a solid color, clean and without holes.
  • Closed-toe/ closed heel shoes
  • Name badges (Provided)
  • Uniform hats (optional). (Provided)

Non-uniformed employees:

  • Attire appropriate to the job duties being performed.
  • Business casual wear.
  • Khaki shorts are permitted when worn with an official uniform shirt.
  • Flip flops, low cut attire, short skirts and/or “spaghetti” strap tops are not permitted.

Appearance and Personal Grooming:

  • Personal hygiene and cleanliness must be maintained.
  • Jewelry: Pierced earrings cannot exceed three earrings per ear and/ or larger than an 8 gauge. Facial piercings are limited to three small “stud” piercings.
  • Body art or tattoos: Non-offensive tattoos are allowed with the manager’s discretion. Any that are determined to be inappropriate or excessive in management’s judgment must be covered when working in areas visible to the public.
  • Hair for all employees must be neat and clean and styled in a conventional manner at all times. Male employees may have short, neatly trimmed, full-face, fully grown, mustaches, goatees, and/or beards.
  • Grooming Guideline Exceptions: The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, The Wilds, Safari Golf Club and Zoombezi Bay are proud of the many different people who work for us. Our diversity enriches our workplace and adds to our success. Given our diversity, we understand that exceptions may need to be made to our grooming standards for medical, religious, or other reasons. In these cases, all of our parks will endeavor to reasonably accommodate these exceptions.

An employee’s uniform will be based upon individual department guidelines, which could be stricter than this policy. Departmental managers will determine uniform distribution.