Discriminatory dress codes


The government has made it clear that dress codes requiring women to wear high heels are unlawful. Nevertheless, a joint inquiry by Parliament’s Petitions and Women and Equalities select committees found that requirements for women to wear high heels at work, and other discriminatory dress codes, are widespread. Responding to the inquiry findings before the 2017 general election, the Conservative government rejected a call for a new law to make it illegal for employers to require women workers to wear high heels, but it said it would publish new guidance. This will make clear that both equality and health and safety laws apply to workplace dress codes. The government also said that it would “challenge all employers with dress codes to review them and consider whether they remain relevant and lawful”.


The inquiry into high heels and workplace dress codes was triggered by a petition launched by a temporary agency worker who was sent home from work, without pay, for refusing to wear shoes with two-to-four inch heels.


Her petition calling on the government to make it illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work attracted more than 150,000 signatures and hundreds of women subsequently provided information about discriminatory dress codes to the inquiry. In addition to being forced to wear high heels, women workers had also been required to dye their hair blond, to wear revealing outfits such as short skirts and low-fronted or unbuttoned tops, and to constantly reapply make-up. The inquiry found that hotels and tourism, travel and airlines, temporary work agencies, corporate services, retail and hospitality were particular problem areas, and that young women were particularly affected by these requirements.


“It is clear to us that, in many cases, employers who impose dress codes on their workers simply are not asking themselves what legal obligations they might have to protect their employees’ health and wellbeing and to avoid discrimination against their employees because they are not recognising the potential harm which their dress codes might cause,” the inquiry reported.


According to evidence provided by the College of Podiatry, “there is a strong body of evidence that significantly indicates the medical and disabling effects of wearing a high heel shoe over a prolonged amount of time”.


Although the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to carry out a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of the health and safety risks their employees and others are exposed to at work (see page 42), the committees found that many employers were not considering their dress codes “through the lens of health and safety law”.