The Government publishes its response to a report on high heels and workplace dress codes

Back in December 2015 an agency receptionist was sent home without pay after arriving at work in flat shoes, in contravention of the dress code which required women to wear 2-4 inch heels. The story was widely reported and the individual involved started a petition, receiving 150,000 signatures, which called for changes in the law. The Government recently published its response regarding workplace dress codes.

The House of Commons Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee carried out a joint inquiry focusing on workplace dress codes in particular industries and the committees published a report which suggested that the requirement to wear heels was damaging to female workers’ health and well being and that female workers were made to feel uncomfortable and sexualised by employers due to other workplace dress codes. The report recommended that the area of law should be reviewed by the government, that more effective remedies should be available against employers and that further guidance should be created.

The petition was discussed in Parliament in March and the House of Commons was told that the Government was going to take strong action to tackle the issue of sex discrimination at work.

On 20 April 2017 the Government published its response to the Committees’ report. The Government has not accepted any recommendations which would require changes to legislation – the Government’s view is that the existing law is sufficient to protect women against discriminatory dress codes. Instead, the report suggests a preference towards more detailed guidance and awareness campaigns.

It is hoped that further guidance on workplace dress codes assists the position for women finding themselves in these types of situations; however, there does remain some uncertainty in the current law as to whether certain aspects of dress codes are acceptable.  For example, it is unclear as to whether a dress code requiring female employees to wear make up is discriminatory. Furthermore, there are relatively few cases brought before the Employment Tribunal dealing with dress codes and therefore clarity in this area is unlikely to be achieved in the short term.