Remember when corporate receptionist Nicola Thorp was sent home from work in 2015 for not wearing high-heeled shoes, triggering a debate in the House of Commons after calling for the Sex Discrimination Act to be updated?
Well, little did we know that Thorp's experience of dress code discrimination was so common, with a new survey revealing that one in four women have been cautioned about their appearance in the workplace, with nearly half of the time warnings being related to make-up.
VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, who conducted the survey of more than 2,000 Britons, found that a quarter of female respondents had been pulled up on their appearance by management, while just nine per cent of male respondents had been told off for their work place attire.
Managers also were found to deem female workers 'a distraction' to their male co-workers in 35 per cent of cases.
Initially, all survey participants were asked 'What's the dress code in your workplace?' to which the most popular responses were 'formal' (34 per cent), 'a set uniform' (29 per cent) and 'smart casual' (27 per cent).
'Too much make-up' was the most common complained about issue relating to a woman's appearance, follower closely behind by the length of their skirt.
Other cautions included tops being deemed too revealing (30 per cent), slogan T-shirts (18 per cent), and outfit flamboyance (15 per cent.)
Meanwhile, mens' top response were not being neatly shaven (56 per cent), incorrect footwear (34 per cent) and wearing shorts instead of trousers (32 per cent).
When questioned how comments on their appliance affected them, more than a third of women admitted to feeling 'embarrassed', while almost three quarters of men revealed they 'shrugged it off'.
Shockingly, 73 per cent of women adhered to the warnings and made changes to their appearance, whereas just 44 per cent of male respondents took action following their cautions.
George Charles, spokesperson for the money-saving brand, explained: 'It's okay to pull up a member of your staff on their appearance if you genuinely believe that they're breaking their contract in anyway, or even if it poses some sort of health & safety risk, but you just can't tell women to change their appearance because they're possibly going to be distracting to their male colleagues. That's outrageous.
'It's definitely food for thought, but it can't be one rule for one and another for someone else - be consistent,' he added.
You can say that again.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
