The Canadian province of British Columbia has officially barred employers from forcing women to wear high heels in the workplace, BC premier Christy Clark announced on Saturday.
“In some workplaces in our province, women have to wear high heels at work. Like most British Columbians, our government thinks it’s unfair,” Clark said in a statement.
Labour Minister Shirley Bond said requiring women to wear heels on the job is not only discriminatory but also represents a health and safety issue.
“With the prolonged wearing of high heels at work, there is a risk of physical injury by slipping or falling, as well as damage to the foot, leg and back,” said Bond.
Ms Bond expects “that employers see a very clear signal that forcing someone to wear high heels at work is unacceptable.”
The move comes after the liberal provincial premier — who has previously said she considers such practice ” dangerous” and “discriminatory” — endorsed a Green party leader’s bill designed to prevent employers from setting gender-based clothing and footwear requirements.
Rather than implementing the new bill, the British Columbia government opted instead for amending footwear rules under the existing Workers’ Compensation Act to “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.”
High heels, whether employers have the right to request women to wear them at work, have become a hot button issue in recent years.
This British Columbia government announcement comes a month after 25 major Ontario restaurant chains decided not to impose a dress code — miniskirt and high heels — on their female staff.
Last year, a British woman, Nicola Thorp, made headlines after she was sent home from a top London financial firm without pay for refusing to wear two-inch high heels to the office.
After Thorp launched a petition that gained huge media attention, the UK government launched an inquiry and issued a report demanding an “end” to all gender-based discriminatory practice at work and additional fines for employers found to be breaking rules.
