This week, MPs have called for a review of current equality legislation after a report discovered that numerous organisations are delivering sexist instructions on dress code to female employees. The report was launched after Nicola Thorp, a receptionist for PwC, hit headlines in 2015 for being sent home without pay for refusing to wear high heels to work. The report highlighted that the existing law does not protect women from such acts of discrimination in the workplace, and revealed further cases of employers dictating how much makeup female employees should wear, or how short their skirts should be. In one particular case, a female employee was asked to dye her hair blonde.
It’s incredibly saddening to hear that discriminatory acts such as enforced and typically sexualised dress codes are prevalent among so many businesses today. What is even more shocking is that so many businesses are acting unlawfully by disregarding the Equality Act. However, this also raises the point that such laws are meaningless unless they are enforced. Let us know what you think on Twitter and Facebook.
Machiavelli’s The Prince may be one of the most renowned political books of all time, but according to HR Grapevine, the piece of work which has become synonymous with political intrigue and scheming was in fact a plea for employment. According to historians, Machiavelli was inspired by the Borgia dynasty, his previous employers as he worked as a government official in Florence, and The Prince was an effort to impress the ruling Medici’s by revealing the nitty, gritty details of the House of Borgia and late Pope Alexander VI. But, this approach proved to be rather tactless and although The Prince remains one of the most popular pieces of writing of all time, it failed to secure Machiavelli a job and he remained unemployed for most of his life.
Elsewhere in the survey, one in five female office workers admitted that they felt under pressure to spend money at the office Christmas party, whereas a quarter of respondents revealed the pressure they felt to contribute towards colleague’s gifts and almost a third said the same when it came to colleague’s charity fundraising. Working in an office environment can be costly. While work events are great teambuilding exercises, they can leave a serious dent in an employee’s wallet. Remember, only ever contribute what you can afford towards work activities and avoid the pressure to contribute more.