Forced to wear heels at work or go home without pay

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Would love to know the opinions of the forum.

This topic has become quite the talking point in the UK http://www.independent.co.uk/n.....ng-to-wear

ETA the online petition has raised 100K signatures and will now be debated in parliament

7 years ago

Dressing

52 replies

Latest reply was from rabbit

Mochi

Veteran

Hope the company loses big-time.

7 years ago

Anonymous

I agree, Mochi! I saw this on Facebook, as I follow Bridgette Raes, and thought it was horrendous that any company would fire an employee over this. I can tell you right now that if the university I work for ever tells me I have to wear high heeled shoes, or any other type of shoe that causes problems for my fussy feet, I will quit. So far all they've said is not to wear things like jeans, flip flops and tank tops. Somebody must have been wearing some really hoochie outfits.

7 years ago

catseye

Veteran

I saw this too. I would have been fired if this is true in my work place. I cannot wear heels. Even two inch is too high.

7 years ago

Anonymous

What a laughable policy. It will never stand up in court. I can understand an employer wanting their employees to look neat and presentable, but micromanaging the heel heights of their female employees is ridiculous. (Not sure this is worthy of parliamentary debate, however, unless it's a springboard for the whole issue of gender equality.)

7 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

This is a terrible policy! I hope it does spark conversation in Parliament about gender equality.

7 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Unbelievable. And very unexpected, don't you think, Jules? Walking around the UK, it strikes me how most people wear flats or very low heels because it's a commute by public transport culture.

7 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

But I also have to play devils advocate. We don't have all the information.

I would have liked to have seen the temp's outfit with flats. I wonder if it might have been a sloppy outfit that management was reacting to. And instead of being more tactful and accurate about the attire, they blamed her less than professional look on flat shoes.

If someone wearing dressy flats looked professional, it would be hard to send them home because they weren't wearing heels in this day and age.

7 years ago

Mochi

Veteran

That could be, Angie. But I don't know. Here is her picture:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-36264229

She appears to be very well-groomed. And, in fact, beautiful, for what it's worth. I would think when they told her specifically what the policy was (in that case, shoes), that's really what they were referring to.

7 years ago

April

Veteran

Heels required? That is horrifying. There is no outfit that "requires" heels to make it presentable, or professional. (On a fashion runway, the designer can call the shots because the look is the look.) At an ordinary job, that's just a blatantly sexist double standard.

If this young woman had an artificial leg (or, as others have noted, a y chromosome) would the company require heels? Same rules for all, please, employers.

7 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Ah, thanks, Nancy. Now I have all the pieces and Nicola looks great. I'm back to being disappointed with management. Ironically, wearing heels could have prevented Nicola from being effective at her job.

7 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

I saw that! Outrageous! I used to work for one of the other big accounting firms (Big Eight back then) and wore heels, along with skirt suits - this was back in the 80s. I left the firm and had a child. When I was pregnant I started wearing flats because my back hurt. After the baby was born, I continued wearing flats. I was a very good accountant and my shoes had nothing to do with my ability. After all, men didn't have to wear heels. In fact, I never wore high heels to work ever again.

My husband's company uses PWC in San Francisco for their outside accounting. I sent him a link to the article to forward to them. I'm pretty sure they know about it though!

ETA: I worked in Houston which is very hot and humid, and while working at a client, I rolled up my sleeves, and my supervisor said, "Who told you you could do that?" and he made me roll down my sleeves.

7 years ago

Cindy

Active Member

I have heard of a dress code at work but never being forced to wear heels. I can barely walk safely in flats I think I would end up seriously injured if I had to wear heels. Not every woman can wear heels for a variety of reasons. I think this is a ridiculous rule for a company. I hope parliament goes well and this company is forced to adopt a sensible, realistic policy.

7 years ago

El Cee

Veteran

I am personally horrified by this. I keep saying that these silly dress codes would disappear if men were forced to wear a skirt and heels for, let's say, one 8 hour shift… while still performing all required work functions. Bet most could not even get through the day without making major complaints. That these sort of gender equality issues still exist in corporate culture in 2016 truly astounds me.

7 years ago

Dee

Veteran

I find it so frustrating that the image of female professionalism still requires heels. I have a disability and physically cannot wear 2-4" heels. Even anything over an inch is unlikely! And I don't think it makes me any less of a professional when I wear dressy flats instead of heels to work, meetings or interviews.

7 years ago

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

Devil's advocate also -- if you know what the dress code is, wouldn't it make more sense to discuss with a manager/HR person before deciding not to follow it?

7 years ago

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I think when you are a temp and moving between organisations you will garner a good understanding of the work culture. Perhaps she was dressed in an unprofessional manner but I doubt it.

Personally, I do not mind dress codes, but to confuse formality with a need for a certain heel height is rediculous to the extreme.

To be fair, men can also suffer with the dictats of dress codes, who wants to wear a suit and tie on a hot day in an non air conditioned office BUT being too hot is uncomfortable, being forced to wear heels for nine hours can be downright painful, there is a difference.

7 years ago

April

Veteran

A "dress code" needs a purpose: the work requires a certain level of formality or professional demeanor (working in finance or law); or the work requires a certain level of informality, or practicality (working with small children or in an athletic role). The purpose cannot be "we prefer to see women in shoes that many of them cannot wear."

7 years ago

Anonymous

Wasn't there a similar brouhaha over heels being required on the red carpet at Cannes a few years ago? As I recall, the ensuing outrage shut that 'policy' down. I call that precedent (at least in these pre-Brexit days)

7 years ago

Mochi

Veteran

Yes, Aliona. I had thought about mentioning that earlier. It's even worse--there were staff who were lifting the hems of these long gowns to verify that the women were actually wearing heels!!!!! And the women had to submit to it to have entry into screenings.

7 years ago

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I r ead it on my news feed she was a temp and is an actress. I'm looking at the person who hired her. What did she interview in.? It is so antiquated that a woman would have to wear heels. I would die at work. I wear shoes and boots conducive to my work environment. I will follow loosely it is an interesting conversation.

7 years ago

April

Veteran

And to add insult to injury regarding that Cannes incident, the journalists who covered the brouhaha (and were, understandably, trying to establish a justifiable level of outrage among readers) referred to the women who were turned away -- in jeweled, utterly formal and appropriate flat shoes -- as "women in their 50s".

In other words, doddering, elderly, infirm souls we should all feel sorry for. As a 52-year-old who also cannot and will not wear heels, I was angry on behalf of those women -- but not because they were ancient souls deserving of our pity.

Good grief.

7 years ago

Anonymous

Wow, Mochi, I didn't realise it was that egregious at Cannes. How do rules and behavior like these serve our society?

Off topic but vaguely related: I remember being told as a child that my grandfather (a member of a Scots kilted regiment in WWI) was made to stand on a mirror during uniform inspections. I always thought it was a joke. Now I'm not so sure.

7 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

It will be interesting to see how the debate turns out. I do have a bit of a problem with her just deciding not to follow the dress code after she had apparently signed it (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36265545). So it isn't as if she just showed up and was surprised that she had to wear heels.

It is a difficult question, because like it or not, heels are dressier than flat shoes. So if a man has to wear a full suit and tie to work, it seems a given that a woman would be expected to wear heels. But with heels, they aren't just uncomfortable--they can cause longstanding problems with the feet. So I guess it would have to be decided how important heels are to the company's image. Depending on what is typically seen in that company's industry, perhaps wearing flats would be seen as too informal and reflect badly on the company. It's a very interesting question.

7 years ago

Anonymous

I agree that heels are dressier, but I don't think you have to wear high heels. There are dressy options with 1.5- to 2-inch heels.

7 years ago

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Gigi, it's interesting the company haven't published their appearance guidelines. The company has been very quick to blame a third party agency.

7 years ago

April

Veteran

In case anyone is puzzled by this fuss over heels, a good starting place would be Mary Karr's essay in next week's New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magaz.....high-heels (I'm aware that some women have back problems or other issues that make heels more comfortable for them. This fuss is not about those women.)

There is just no similar issue in men's shoes. There are men's dress shoes, men's casual shoes, and men's gear shoes. There is nothing painful, dangerous, and health-compromising in the world of men's footwear and if there were, the idea that a man would be required to wear it would be shocking.

7 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I would have to go with Gigi on this. If the article is correct, it states she signed the dress code and then came to work in shoes that did not conform to the code. If she signed it without reading it fully, that is still her fault.

That is not to say that the policy should not be challenged and taken to court on principle. But in this particular case, she had no right to be shocked that they required what they told her they were going to require.

7 years ago

Mochi

Veteran

Would she have gotten the job if she'd spoken up before signing on?

7 years ago

krishnidoux

Veteran

This form of sexism becomes also ageism: older feet with a life's worth of wearing heels simply can not withstand working nine hours in heels. Period.

7 years ago

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