A woman was allegedly denied a job at Harrods unless she straighten her hair. This is one example of the common gender discrimination happening across the United Kingdom.
According to a news article published by Telegraph, Nicola Thorp, who was fired last year from her temp job because she refused to wear high heels to work, told members of parliament the gender discrimination she witnessed during an interview session that she attended. She said that a woman who held an interview for Harrods was pointing at other females present and telling them what they needed to do in order to get the job.
If they needed a makeover, the woman would say so. She also pointed to one woman in particular and said that unless she straightened her hair she cannot get a job because her hair did not look "professional enough."
Thorp added that she and the other women present did not comment against the discriminatory treatment at the time seeing as they all needed the job. They had only nodded and agreed.
Telegraph wrote that TBC Management which is understood to be the agency that Thorp was referring to, denied the allegations made and said that changing hairstyles has never been a part of the company's policy. On the other hand, Harrods refused to comment.
This detail was presented as evidence to the Petitions and Women and Equalities Committees. Thorp told Telegraph that she hopes there will be proper penalties for companies that encourage a culture of gender discrimination, companies that believe they can get away with sexist or gender-based dress codes.
Telegraph added in its article that the Chartered Management Institution found that 81 percent of UK managers witnessed gender discrimination in the workplace last year. In another study reported by Jobs & Hire, it was discovered that women earn less right after college. Read more about it here.
Below is a video of Thorp talking about her experience after she was sent home for not wearing heels.
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