… and dignity in di feet!
Sometimes petitions work! I rarely sign online petitions, but as you can read here I did sign the one instigated by a woman receptionist who was sent home without pay for refusing to wear high-heeled shoes.
As you can read below, it looks like it had an effect (it goes on a bit – a lot actually – so don’t feel compelled!):
You recently signed the petition “Make it illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work”:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129823
We told you a few months ago that MPs on the House of Commons Petitions Committee had decided to investigate the issues raised by this petition.
The inquiry has now finished and the Petitions Committee has published a joint report with the Women and Equalities Committee on high heels and workplace dress codes. The report concludes that the Equality Act 2010 is not yet fully effective in protecting workers from discrimination.
The report calls for:
· the Government to take urgent action to improve the effectiveness of the Equality Act. It recommends that the Government reviews this area of the law and, if necessary, asks Parliament to amend it.
· more effective remedies—such as increased financial penalties—for employment tribunals to award against employers who breach the law, in order to provide an effective deterrent.
· the Government to introduce guidance and awareness campaigns targeted at employers, workers and students, to improve understanding of the law and workers’ rights.
You can read the full report on the Parliament website: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2015/high-heels-and-workplace-dress-codes-report-published-16-17/?utm_source=petition&utm_campaign=129823&utm_medium=email&utm_content=reportstory
We are hugely grateful to you for signing this petition and raising this issue in Parliament. Without this petition, this inquiry would not have happened.
What will happen now?
The petition and report will be debated in Parliament on Monday 6 March at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall (the second debating chamber of the House of Commons). You can watch the debate live on the day or catch up with it afterwards on Parliament TV: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons
The Government will send a formal response to our report within 2 months. We will let you know when this happens. You can follow any updates on our inquiry page: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/high-heels-workplace-dress-codes-inquiry-16-17/?utm_source=petition&utm_campaign=129823&utm_medium=email&utm_content=inquiry
