Jewellery at work, school and sport

Football changes its mind

For years, the Laws of the Game were blunt about jewellery. Necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, even leather and rubber bands were all forbidden and had to come off. Covering them with tape was not allowed either. Many a player has stood in a changing room, twisting out a stud earring or easing off a wedding ring before kick-off.

Then, on 1 July 2026, football's lawmakers changed their minds. The International Football Association Board, which writes the Laws, replaced the ban with a simpler test: a player must not wear anything dangerous, but other accessories are allowed as long as they are safely and securely covered. The Board's explanation was disarmingly frank. The ban, it said, had created confrontation, had been applied inconsistently, and had overlooked cultural, religious, medical and personal reasons for wearing certain things.

It is a useful reminder that the rules about jewellery are not all the same, and are rarely about the jewellery itself. They are about catching, scratching, hygiene and choking. Once you know which of those a rule is guarding against, it is much easier to make sense of.

What the sports rulebooks say

Each sport writes its own rules, and they differ more than you might expect. Here are three of the biggest, as their current rulebooks put it.

In football, the referee decides what counts as dangerous. The Laws' own questions and answers give two examples. A player spotted wearing small earrings during a match must leave the field and have them removed or safely and securely covered. A necklace found at the pre-match inspection must come off if the referee thinks it is dangerous, and can stay on, covered, if not.

Rugby is stricter, and it means it. If a match official tells a player at the pre-match inspection that an item is banned, and the player is later found wearing it on the pitch, the player is sent off.

Netball sits between the two. Earrings and other body piercings are out. Anything that might endanger a player is out. Anything else has to be taped or padded, and medical devices may be worn if they are securely covered in the same way.

At work: machines and food

At work, the two big reasons for taking jewellery off are moving machinery and food.

Around machines, the worry is entanglement: a ring, chain or bracelet catching on a moving part and pulling the hand or arm in with it. The Health and Safety Executive's advice for using machines safely is that any jewellery, including watches and rings, that might snag should be removed, and long hair tied back. Its list of things never to do includes wearing long chains or rings that may get caught in moving parts. Its guidance for engineering workshops says the same: avoid jewellery, including rings, when operating engineering machinery.

In kitchens, the worry is hygiene. The UK government's guidance for food businesses says that when preparing or handling food, staff should not wear watches or jewellery, except a plain wedding band. They should also tie long hair back and wear a suitable head covering.

Most other workplaces set their own dress codes, often based on a risk assessment for the job. If you are not sure what applies to you, your employer's policy is the place to look.

In hospitals: bare below the elbows

Hospital staff in England work to NHS England's guidance on uniforms and workwear, published in April 2020. It is often known by its nickname, "bare below the elbows", because exposing the forearms is part of washing hands properly during direct patient care.

On jewellery, the guidance is clear and reasoned:

• Hands and wrists. No jewellery, including a wristwatch, on the hands or wrists during direct patient care. Jewellery and watches can harbour germs and make hand washing harder.
• Rings. Local policies may allow a single plain metal ring, such as a wedding ring.
• Earrings and necklaces. Nothing that could compromise patient or staff safety, which the guidance says includes earrings other than studs, and necklaces. Long or hoop earrings, necklaces and rings are named as possible hazards for patients and staff.
• Religious bracelets. Where staff wish to wear a bracelet for religious reasons when not caring for patients, it should be possible to push it up the arm and secure it there for hand washing and patient care.

The guidance sets the principles. Each NHS organisation writes its own local uniform policy, so the exact rules on, say, a ring with a stone can vary from one hospital to the next.

At school: each school decides

There is no national rule on jewellery in schools in England. The Department for Education's guidance says it is for each school's governing board to decide rules about appearance, whether there should be a uniform and what it should be. So whether earrings are allowed, how many, and whether they must be studs, is set school by school.

What the guidance does do is set limits on how those rules are made. Schools must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, and must take health and safety into account. On religion, it says pupils have the right to manifest a religion or belief, but not necessarily at all times, in all places or in a particular way. Restrictions can be justified for reasons such as genuine health and safety concerns, but schools should act reasonably and accommodate religious requirements where they can, through consultation and dialogue.

The statutory guidance on the cost of uniforms adds that a school's uniform policy should be published on its website and easy to understand. If you disagree with a rule, the guidance says disputes should be resolved locally, through the school's complaints policy.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own education systems, and this guidance applies to England only.

Teething necklaces and babies

One kind of "jewellery" draws a firmer warning than any sports rule. In December 2018 the US Food and Drug Administration warned parents and carers not to use necklaces, bracelets or any other jewellery marketed for relieving teething pain. The beads may be amber, wood, marble or silicone. The warning also covers the same jewellery used to provide sensory stimulation for people with special needs, such as autism or ADHD.

The FDA's reasons are stark. It had received reports of deaths and serious injuries to infants and children, including strangulation and choking. A necklace can strangle if it wraps too tightly around a child's neck or catches on something like a cot. A bracelet or necklace can choke if it breaks and the beads, or the whole piece, reach the throat. There is also a risk of injury to the mouth, or infection, if a piece irritates or pierces the gums. And the FDA says the safety and effectiveness of teething jewellery for teething pain have not been established.

In the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says it does not advocate any cord being placed around any baby's neck at any time.

Teething is normal, and a health visitor, GP or pharmacist can suggest safe ways to soothe it.

Safe, not bare

The footballers twisting out their earrings before kick-off were following a rule that had stopped making sense to the people who wrote it. The new version asks a better question: not "is it jewellery?" but "is it dangerous?"

That question runs through every rule here. A ring that might catch in a lathe, a watch that gets in the way of hand washing, a necklace within a baby's reach. Take off what is risky, cover or keep what is not, and when in doubt, ask the person whose rule it is.