Parliament must act to ensure that discriminatory dress codes that cause women pain, discomfort and stress are stamped out, writes Tori Rigby
We have all heard of service with a smile. But have you heard of service with osteoarthritis? No? Well, how about service with skin lesions or fractured bones? When employers make wearing high heels, makeup and revealing clothing a mandatory part of the dress code for women that’s exactly the type of service you’re getting.
It has been accepted by the medical community that high heels in particular cause harmful and potentially irreversible medical issues. So seemingly, the requirement to wear high heels violates health and safety regulations for women employees – not to mention creates an obvious tripping hazard! This kind of dress code – one that is restrictive and unsafe- –is pretty much unheard of outside of the retail/front of house sector. I am sure, at the very least, a few eyebrows would be raised if construction workers were required to wear 4 four inch Jimmy Choos instead of their steel-capped boots. Requiring women to wear high heels is just as ridiculous and unnecessary.
These kinds of dress code requirements are sexist, plain and simple. They are built on the patriarchal notion that women’s contributions to the workplace is limited to paper-pushing, cleavage and brightening up the scenery. If it was not discriminatory, then wouldn’t they require male colleagues to sexualise themselves just as much as women? Maybe some slicked-back hair and a waxed chest? Sounds about as silly as Bob the Builder in stilettos, doesn’t it?
However, dress codes themselves are not an issue. They serve a purpose in helping to identify staff to customers, painting an image of the organisation they work for and help to project an approachable, professional workforce. I am guessing it is one of the many reasons doctors wear scrub caps instead of top hats when they are elbow deep in your spleen.
The issue lies in placing an unfair burden on female employees to look ‘sexy’, which constitutes direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. But with employment tribunal fees and the risk of getting fired, the only option for many women is to shut up and put on painful, uncomfortable high heels and enough makeup to fill an Estee Lauder counter.
Apart from the physical pain, the petitions committee and the women and equalities committee, also found strong and disturbing evidence that showed a correlation between being forced to wear high heels and women failing to progress within the workplace. This seems to be a contributing factor to the sparsity of women in senior management roles in business. Additionally, the report found that a lot of women who are subjected to sexist dress codes experience discomfort from unwanted sexual attention from customers and clients; at the risk of losing a sale, commission or even their job if women do speak out, they are expected to just ‘deal with it’ as part of their job. Sexist dress codes suggest that companies that adopt them either do not care about the wellbeing and safety of their female staff, or view their contributions to business as so minor that they do not need to create an environment that would allow women to thrive.
However, the report fails to acknowledge the racist undertones of many dress codes. Specifically, in the discriminatory requirements that force many black and minority ethnic women to straighten their natural hair, remove braids or dreadlocks and wear weaves in the name of ‘professionalism’. This is both sexist racist – and places an unfair requirement that equates direct discrimination. Similarly, the report did not acknowledge the impact sexist dress codes have on disabled women in the workplace. Such dress codes might cause disabled women further difficulty in progressing in the workplace or accentuate their disability if they are the only women exempt from the sexist policy.
Sexist and discriminatory dress codes that cause women pain, discomfort and stress is an issue that is long overdue acknowledgement. The legal provisions already in place lack the procedural framework that gives them any meaningful impact, and parliament must address this in order to make justice and equality for women in the workplace achievable.
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Tori Rigby is a member of Progress. She tweets at @tori_rigby
You can read the report undertaken by the petitions committee women and equalities committee into high heels and workplace dress codes here
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