Policy vs high heels a ‘big step’ towards better treatment of female workers

Sen. Nancy Binay. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Sen. Nancy Binay on Tuesday commended the plan of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to stop companies from requiring female workers to wear high-heeled shoes at work. The plan also directs companies to provide female workers with rest periods from long hours of standing.

In a statement, Binay said that DOLE’s move to craft the said policy “will provide Filipina workers suffering long hours of standing on high heels without breaks with much needed respite.”

“A good example of these workers are salesladies who brave several hours of service without sitting breaks while teetering on several inches of heels,” she added.

Binay, who acts as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, also said that it was “simply unfair” for female workers to be forced to wear high heels without sitting after standing for long hours while working, exposing them to various safety and health hazards.

“Kaya nga isang malaking hakbang tungo sa makataong pagtrato sa mga kababaihan sa kanilang pinagtatrabahuhan ang polisiyang ito,” she said.

(“That’s why this policy is big step towards ensuring humane treatment of women in the workplace.”)

Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III was quoted in news reports saying that he had ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) and the Bureau of Special Working Concerns (BSWC) to craft the said policy.

“Dapat komportable at ligtas ’di lamang ang lugar kung hindi maging ang kasuotan ng mga kababaihang nagsusumikap para sa kanilang mga pamilya,” Binay said. “Kailangan hayaan silang makapagsuot ng komportableng sapatos, mabigyan ng mauupuan at panahong makaupo matapos ang napakatagal na oras ng pagtatrabaho.”

(“Women who strive to provide for their families should be comfortable and safe not only in their working conditions but also in their attire. They should be allowed to wear comfortable shoes, given seats and the time to sit on them after long hours of work.”) –Christia Marie Ramos, trainee /atm

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