Vancouver, Canada. A recent petition now turned Canadian government order, requires employers to no longer impose dress codes on employees including high heeled shoes, prompting many to wonder if the Canadian government has a real problem with dress codes or unhinged corporate bosses.
Canada’s province of British Columbia has banned dress codes which require female employees to wear high heels at work. The government ordered that these requirements are a health and safety issue, putting workers at risk of slipping or falling as well as long-term injuries to the feet, legs and back.
A Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver filed a private member’s bill on International Women’s Day in March which would have ended gender-specific dress codes. The Government has since adopted an amended version of Mr Weaver’s proposal.
“I expect employers to recognise this very clear signal that forcing someone to wear high heels at work is unacceptable.” Weaver lisped.
The British Columbia’s Workers’ Compensation Act now states, “ensure that workplace footwear is of a design, construction and material that allows the worker to safely perform their work and ensures that employers cannot require footwear contrary to this standard”.
Mr Weaver also welcomed the new laws, saying women wearing heels at work faced “sexism, objectification, bleeding feet, sore knees, hips, backs and long-term damage.”
Over in the United Kingdom, MPs recently debated discriminatory dress codes, after a petition calling for a ban on women wearing high heels at work gathered more than 150,000 signatures. Nicola Sharp, a receptionist, started the petition after she was sent home from work for refusing to wear high heels.