Headscarves and high heels……Tips for employers on implementing a dress code

Posted 19/07/2016 By: Claire Sleep

You may have seen the recent news reports that employers in the EU may be able to ban staff from wearing Islamic headscarves to work as long as it is to enforce a policy of neutrality that no religious symbols can be displayed at work and the restriction is considered proportionate i.e. it must be appropriate, necessary and reasonable to the objective it pursues.

This came from a Belgian case which confirmed that employees may be expected to moderate the exercise of their religion in the workplace, including in relation to their clothing. However, we are expecting a European Court of Justice decision on this towards the end of the year as there has been another French case which reached a different decision only last week.

The Belgian case came up literally hot on the heels of Nicola Thorp, a 27-year-old corporate receptionist working for the accountancy firm PwC in the city, reporting that she was sent home for refusing to wear high heels.She reportedly arrived at the accountancy firm PwC wearing flat shoes and was told to go home without pay unless she went out and bought heels that were between two and four inches high. Ms Thorp has now set up a petition to the government, demanding “women have the option to wear flat formal shoes at work”.

In order to avoid claims like this being made against you as an employer, consideration should be given to having a dress code. This may specify that employees are dressed smartly to convey a corporate image, ensure that a uniform is worn or be for health and safety reasons.

In any dress code, employers need to consider and ensure that:

• there is a genuine business requirement behind them, in order to minimise the risk of successful discrimination claims.
• they consider the duty to make reasonable adjustments to a dress code in order to avoid placing disabled workers at a substantial disadvantage.
• the standards set out in the policy apply to all employees equally, for example, to men and to women (bearing in mind that it is not necessary for both sexes to wear the same but there must be equivalent standards).
• they consider whether a restriction on any kind of clothing or jewellery could be deemed to be of religious significance.