e petition discussed in the House of Commons
On 6 March 2017, an e-petition, signed by over 150,000 people calling for it to be illegal for employers to require female employees to wear high heels at work, was discussed in the House of Commons.
The government intends to take strong action (a matter of opinion I think!) to tackle discriminatory dress codes, including the following:
- Producing guidance for employers, working closely with Acas, the EHRC and the Health and Safety Executive.
- The EHRC is looking at how to sharpen and improve its enforcement work under the Equality Act 2010.
- It will expect the hotels and tourism, travel and airlines, temporary agencies, corporate services, retail and hospitality sectors, to review their dress codes, if they have not already done so.
- It is looking at how it can improve employees’ awareness and understanding of the legal protections available to them and how better to enforce them.
- The Equality Advisory Support Service has agreed to refer any reports of dress code issues to the EHRC to consider further action.
