Premier Christy Clark promises to end mandatory high heels for women in the workplace

B.C. Premier Christy Clark says it is "unacceptable" that some women arerequired to wear high heels at work and that the province will end the practice.

Clark took to Twitter andFacebook to say she agrees with Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, whointroduced a bill March 8to amend the Workers Compensation Act so safety standards, including for footwear,must be the same for all genders.

"In some workplaces in B.C., women are still required to wear high heels on the job. This isn't just old-fashioned; in 2017, it's unacceptable," said Clark in a Facebook post March 12.

"Women shouldn't have to wear high heels at work. We'll move to end this," Clark also tweeted.

Weaver, who is also the member of the legislature for Oak Bay-Gordon Head, took to Twitter to thank Clark for supporting his effort to prohibit employers from forcing staff to wear high heels.

"This is a human rights issue. I didn't think people could do this in 2017," Weaver told CBC News last week.

"We do have in the Workers Compensation Act some footwear requirements. What I did was bring in the bill that would make it illegal for an employer to require footwear to be different depending on your gender, gender expression or gender identity."

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It's unclear whether Clark will back Weaver's bill or bring inseparate legislation. She told a news conference Monday that hergovernment is looking at the "quickest and simplest" way toimplement the change.

Legislation a first?

Weaversaid he isn't aware of similar legislationanywhere else in the world, but noted that the issue was recentlydiscussed by politicians in the United Kingdom.

MPs there debated a ban last week on mandatoryworkplace high heels in response to a petition started by areceptionist who was sent home without pay for wearing flat shoes.

The debate was non-binding, but the government promised to actagainst heel-height rules, makeup guidelines and other corporatecodes that apply to women but notmen.

Nicola Thorp was told in December 2015 that her flat shoes wereunacceptable for a temporary assignment with London finance firmPwC.

Her employment agency, Portico, had a dress code specifying thatfemale workers must wear non-opaque tights, have hair with "novisible roots," wear "regularly reapplied" makeupand appearin shoes with a heel between five and 10 centimetres high.

Thorp started an online petition, calling formal workplace dresscodes "outdated and sexist."

It gathered more than 150,000signatures, making it eligible for a debate in Parliament.