We asked people in the east London business district, Canary Wharf, what they thought about dress codes
By Magdalena Mis
LONDON, Jan 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Hundreds of working women in Britain have to wear high heels and revealing outfits, dye their hair blonde and constantly reapply make-up due to discriminatory dress codes imposed on them by employers, British parliamentarians said on Wednesday.
They urged the government to crack down on sexist dress codes and change the law if necessary to make it more effective in protecting workers from gender discrimination and to increase penalties for employers flouting the law.
We asked people in the east London business district, Canary Wharf, what they thought about dress codes and employers telling female workers to dress in a specific way.
"As a feminist it offends me big time and I don't think it should happen in the modern world," said Alexandra Mazurova, a 26-year old tax professional.
Sanjana Deb, an IT worker, said while she was not required to dress in a specific way at the office, some of her male colleagues were sent home last summer for wearing shorts.
She said requiring women to wear high heels at work was "ridiculous".
"The (companies) should get real and focus on whether the person is doing a good job or not and that's all that matters and not what they're wearing," she said.
"I think these companies just have their priorities all wrong if they're telling people what to wear -- it's irrelevant."
Terry, a 25-year-old recruitment officer who declined to give her surname, said she turned down a job offer after being told by her prospective employer that he liked the way she looked and dressed, and thought she would look good next to him.
"I didn't appreciate that sort of comment," she said, adding: "As long as it's not sexual I think it's perfectly acceptable to have to wear heels and appropriate (clothes) to work."
Jennifer Fisher, a 28-year-old working in financial services, said women should not be forced to wear high heels or dress in a certain way at work.
"You shouldn't be told what you should and shouldn't wear but I think you should still dress professionally when you go to workplace," she said.
(Reporting by Magdalena Mis @magdalenamis1 Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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