The Ontario Human Rights Commission released a position paper yesterday, 8 March 2016, with respect to female dress code in the workplace. While the Commission speaks to the Ontario Human Rights Code, there is good reason to expect that the reasoning will be influential in other jurisdictions. While the release received some media attention, the paper reflects the Commissions longstanding views.
The Commission noted: “Some Ontario employers require female employees to dress in a sexualized or gender-specific way at work, such as expecting women to wear high heels, short skirts, tight clothing or low-cut tops. These kinds of dress codes reinforce stereotypical and sexist notions about how women should look and may violate Ontario’s Human Rights Code.”
While these dress codes are common in restaurants and bars, they can be found elsewhere in other sectors as well.
The Commission noted:
Employers must make sure that any uniform or dress code policy does not undermine employees’ dignity and right to fully take part in the workplace because of Code grounds, including sex, gender identity, gender expression and creed (religion). Female employees should not be expected to meet more difficult requirements than male employees, and they should not be expected to dress in a sexualized way to attract clients. An employer should be prepared to prove that any sex-based differences in the dress code are legitimately linked to the requirements of the job. Where this cannot be shown, these dress codes will be discriminatory. …..
Employers have a duty under the Code to remove barriers to women’s full and equal participation in employment, take steps to prevent sexual harassment and respond to it quickly when it occurs.
The Commission recommends that reviewing existing dress codes and removing discriminatory requirements may help employers meet their obligations under the Human Rights Code.
The National Post reported today that the well-known restaurant chain, Earl’s is in the process of reviewing its dress code. The National Post reported that female servers have been allowed to wear pants on request, and that Earl’s suggested dress code up to now has only set out one option, a black skirt no shorter than one inch above the knee.
See also: Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on preventing sexual and gender-based harassment and Human Rights at Work.