Dress Code Dilemmas: New Guidance On Discriminatory Dress Codes Published

It is now some two years since the events we have come to know as "Heel-gate" when in 2016, a temp called Nicola Thorp was required to wear high heels at work. Ms Thorp was sent home without pay for not complying. She commented about the issue on her social media and the story consequently took the media by storm, resulting in a petition calling for a ban on such requirements which gained 152,000 signatures.

The Women & Equalities Commission (WEC) subsequently published a report in January 2017 called "High Heels and Workplace Dress Codes" which recommended that the government produce some guidance on dress codes in the workplace. The WEC report concluded that the high heel requirement can be damaging to female workers' health and well-being, with some dress codes making women feel "uncomfortable" and "sexualised".