British Columbia has recently amended its health and safety law to prohibit employers from requiring employees to wear high heels to work.

Maybe this isn't too big a deal in an office environment, but there are some less-sedentary workplaces in which employees are on their feet all day long. It is not fair to require female employees to be running around in five-inch stilettos!

Seriously, workplaces that actually mandate high heels have got to be very rare. I know heels are not allowed in manufacturing environments. At the restaurants I frequent, the female wait staff normally wear flat shoes of one type or another. I suspect the issue may be confined to workplaces like casinos or Playboy Clubs. (I've never been to Hooters, but I think even their "girls" wear sneakers, don't they?)

In any event, three cheers for B.C.! Stamp out mandatory high heels!

DISCLAIMER: Notwithstanding the picture, I don't advocate banning high heels at work unless there is a genuine safety issue. To each her own. I just don't think they should be required because they are not physiologic.

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license, by Tine Steiss.