Hair nets are not specifically required by law, but hair restraints are. Every state except Maryland has adopted some version of the FDA Food Code into its own health rules, and that code requires food employees to wear something that keeps their hair away from food and clean surfaces. A hair net is one option. A hat, a bandana, a chef’s toque, a headscarf, or any other covering that actually contains the hair will satisfy the rule just as well.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
The Rule Behind the Rule
The FDA Food Code is a model set of food safety standards, not a federal law that binds restaurants directly. It becomes enforceable only when a state or local government adopts it. According to the FDA’s own tracking, 62 of 64 state-level food safety agencies have adopted codes based on the Food Code, covering every state and the District of Columbia except Maryland.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Code Adoption Status Annual Report – 2024
Section 2-402.11 is the provision that addresses hair. It requires food employees to wear hair restraints “designed and worn to effectively keep their hair from contacting exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles.”1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 States can modify the code when they adopt it, so the specifics vary. Your city or county health department writes and enforces the version that applies to your kitchen, and the FDA maintains a directory of each state’s food service code.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. State Retail and Food Service Codes and Regulations by State
What Counts as an Acceptable Hair Restraint
The Food Code lists hats, hair coverings, nets, beard restraints, and clothing that covers body hair as acceptable.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 Baseball caps, chef toques, bandanas, and headscarves all qualify, as long as they actually contain the hair. A visor sitting on top of long, loose hair would not, because it does nothing to stop hair from falling.
The test is functional. An inspector is asking one question: is the covering designed and worn in a way that actually keeps hair off food and clean surfaces? Style, brand, and color are not the point.
Who Has to Wear One
The requirement applies to “food employees,” meaning anyone who works with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or food-contact surfaces. Line cooks, prep cooks, bakers, dishwashers, and anyone plating or assembling orders all fall into this category.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
There is an exception for employees who present a minimal risk of contaminating food. Counter staff who serve only beverages and wrapped items, hosts, and wait staff can fall into it.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 “Minimal risk” is the operative phrase, though. A server who reaches across open plates or handles unwrapped garnishes may not qualify. Many employers require hair restraints from every employee just to avoid the judgment call.
The Food Code does not directly address non-employee visitors like maintenance workers or delivery drivers passing through a prep area. Most well-run kitchens hand out a disposable cap anyway, and some local codes may require it.
Facial Hair and Body Hair
Section 2-402.11 covers more than the hair on your head. Beard restraints, often called snoods, are required for employees with facial hair long enough to pose a contamination risk. Some jurisdictions set a specific length, often around a quarter inch, while others leave it to the inspector. If you have a beard and work with exposed food, expect to wear one.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
The same provision requires “clothing that covers body hair.” Visible arm or chest hair left exposed by a uniform can generate a citation. Long sleeves or a chef’s coat handle it.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
Religious and Medical Accommodations
Religious head coverings like hijabs, turbans, and yarmulkes generally satisfy the hair restraint requirement because they do exactly what the Food Code asks: keep hair contained. An employer cannot refuse to let you wear a religious head covering and insist on a company-issued hair net instead. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to accommodate religious dress and grooming practices unless doing so would create an undue hardship, and the EEOC’s guidance specifically points to food service as an example where accommodation is expected.4Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Religious Garb and Grooming in the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities
Medical conditions such as scalp dermatitis or alopecia-related sensitivity can make a standard hair net painful to wear. The ADA’s reasonable accommodation framework applies, though neither the Food Code nor the EEOC has issued guidance specific to hair net alternatives for medical conditions. In practice, the fix is usually the same as with religious accommodation: a soft cloth cap, bandana, or other covering that still contains the hair. Because the Food Code already accepts a wide range of restraint types, an alternative that satisfies both the health code and the employee is usually not hard to find.
Who Pays for Your Hair Net
OSHA lists hair nets and gloves worn by food workers for consumer safety as items employers are not required to pay for under the federal PPE payment rule. The reasoning is that these items protect the public rather than the worker, so they sit outside OSHA’s PPE mandate.5Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Employers Must Provide and Pay for PPE
Employers still cannot freely deduct the cost from your paycheck, though. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the cost of anything an employer requires you to wear cannot drop your earnings below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour or cut into overtime pay you are owed.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 16 – Deductions From Wages for Uniforms and Other Facilities Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) For a worker earning near minimum wage, that effectively means the employer cannot charge for hair restraints at all. Several states have wage-deduction rules that go further than federal law.
In practice, disposable hair nets cost a few cents each and most employers hand them out for free. If yours does not, the FLSA limit is worth knowing.
What Happens If You Do Not Wear One
Health inspectors check for hair restraint compliance during routine inspections. A food employee working without a proper covering generates a violation on the report. In most jurisdictions, the violation falls into a lower-severity category alongside other personal hygiene issues, and it costs the establishment a small point deduction from its inspection score.
One violation is unlikely to shut a restaurant down. Violations accumulate, though. A pattern of noncompliance on basic hygiene points can lead to fines, reinspection fees, or suspension of the food service permit. For the individual worker, the more immediate consequence is usually the employer, not the inspector: showing up without a hair restraint on inspection day is the kind of thing that gets people written up or sent home.