Hey! Just wondering why you have the archaic & sexist rule that your waitresses have to wear a minimum 1″ heel while they’re on their feet all night? The men don’t have the same rule. That’s terrible, and I actually won’t be back because of it. Please pass that on to head office, thanks.
Brown’s wrote: “the policy that our girls need to be in a 1″ heel is a brand standard…”
I won’t be opting to return to Browns because of this. I’m also going to be telling my friends to avoid Browns, and will be posting this response to my blog. If you decide to modernize your policy and lose the sexist attitude toward your employees’ clothing, please let me know so I can update everyone.
If you operated in a location where women weren’t allowed to work, or perhaps people of a particular race, would your “brand standard” adapt to that? In Saskatchewan, we try not to institutionalize sexism. At least I’d rather not support it.
(A pair of commenters note that Earls and Moxxies adhere to the same archaic code, so good to avoid them too.)
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Ever think that the mandatory 1″ heel is a safety issue?
Wearing 4″ stiletto’s to get a better tip would have waitresses falling all over the place.
The attitude is clear, the employees are ‘their girls’.
By telling women how they should dress and telling them they should live up to your standards, basically proclaiming that somebody else should decide how women treat their bodies, you are making yourself the sexist person in this situation. Why do you get to tell women they should dress to your standards and that they must follow the code that you have created for them? Shouldn’t you be okay with them making their own choices? Did you ask every waitress working there how they feel about it? Or was it just easier to decide how they should dress, then boycott the place because they aren’t dressing in the way you’ve determined they should.
Because they don’t have the freedom to decide on their own, they’ve been economically blackmailed.
Just an FYI. I work at a Browns Socialhouse. I like that we dress all the same. Black skirts, black shirts. Nothing revealing, and the 1 inch heel is to prevent girls from wearing 4 inch heels and hurting themselves etc. We are not a bar, we are an upscale socialhouse. We pride ourselves on the fact that anyone can work there and feel comfortable because T&A aren’t hanging out all over the place. We also take pride in the fact the wives, mothers, daughters, girlfriends can all come in and feel secure in their appearance because they are surrounded by women who are dressed tastefully. I love my job, and in NO WAY do I feel that my female rights have been infringed upon. I also have an office job with a strict dress code. Should I go up in arms over the fact that they want me to wear dress pants and not jogging pants or booty shorts. Not likely.
They have the freedom to work anywhere they want. There are thousands of unfilled jobs, they don’t have to work there. They choose to. Again, have you asked all of them how they feel about it? Or the reason for it? Or are you just desperate to be offended by something and impose your values on women? I ask again, did you get the opinion of the people working there? Or are you trying to force your opinion on them about what they should like, and how they should conduct themselves? You were against the uniforms at another place, and it turned out they don’t even have to wear them. Ask the people that work there how they feel. I’m not saying they will or won’t like it. But I like to leave the choice of how to feel up to them. I had to wear a dress shirt and tie to sweep a floor and push carts outside. It was a uniform and it was overdressed. But nobody ever protested for me.
There’s economic pressure and social pressure to work, and heels may be less of a worry to some people than others. The point is their workplace shouldn’t force them to wear bad footwear.
Amen to that.
I notice you’re not willing to ask the workers what they think? Why is that? Do the thoughts of the people affected not matter? I guess it’s up to you to determine how society should run and people should be forced to conform. You always have a problem with it when other people do that. This question won’t go away. You dug your heels in and suggested people do something, we deserve to know if you did your research. Your theory seems to rely on the fact that they must work there and are completely without any other options. That’s pretty desperate reaching. There is no economic pressure to work there. There are hundreds of jobs in restaurants in Regina. They wouldn’t have trouble finding a job elsewhere. Do you know the reason why they wear heels? If you have discovered the reason by asking somebody that works there, I’d like to hear the reason. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not. But I suspect you don’t know the reason. If you gather evidence and present a case based on fact, I will volunteer 20 hours of my time to a mutually acceptable charity of your choice. I really picked a crappy user name…
On the Facebook discussion about this, two friends who were servers said they’d not work where heels are required because they are painful. A lawyer said they’d be fine with working in heels, but had not tried serving in them.
So your evidence is two people who aren’t involved in the situation? Come on, I expect better from you. Why do people wear heels when they work for big companies? Why are heels considered part of formal dress? Do you have a problem with every single company that makes employees wear heels? You’ve done no real research, are unwilling to discuss the problem beyond the society should just conform to your beliefs stance, are scared of facts, and seem to want to avoid even questioning the root of the issue. You’re usually so on the ball. I’m not saying I’m right, or that I even have an opinion either way. But a boycott is a serious thing, and you’re not making a strong case as to why we should take economic action against this place. You are worried about economic blackmail. That assumes they are forced to do it because they have no hope of finding other employment. If you got a large boycott going, they’d lose their jobs and you’d completely screw over the people you’re trying to help. You’re one of the most decent and moral people I’ve ever met, so this is kind of weird. It’s like the soul of Chad Novak has infested your morality.
The two people are involved, they’ve both served in Regina. One quit because, in part, to the shoes.
Hi there, I’m a server that works at a Browns social house in BC, I am expected to wear heels but choose not too, as do about half of the other servers I work with, the other half are sticklers for the rules, and worry about getting in trouble. It IS part of our policy to wear them after all. But with a letter from a doctor, which I haven’t bothered to get, we are allowed to not wear the heels.
I find this ironic, considering that after the occasional twelve hour shift my feet are so sore that sometimes I’m limping. Which I presume, with time would eventually need me to visit that doctor anyway… At the Browns where I work we are not allowed a legitimate break, nor too sit down, and are not even paid overtime for these hours (due to the restaurant not being able to afford it, and because we agreed/ offered to do the shift). We are also not paid for our cash out time at the end of the day. I sometimes picture what it would be like, if the male GM and the men from head office had to wear heels for a day. I also wonder what would happen if a waitress fell and broke her ankle at work.. What kind of law suit would ensue.. Has this happened anywhere yet?
Good question to close with.
Hello, I am also a server at Brown’s in SK, personally I have no issue with the heel height. 1″ is really not high at all its basically just the sole to any pair of flats, working long hours has not been an issue in heels. Yes we are always on our feet but to say were not ALLOWED to sit down is ridiculous, if you need a few minutes the managers do not mind. It is a restaurant and it is impossible to know when it will be dead and busy to be able to give breaks then decide who gets what tables after them being covered for. I love the restaurant and the management.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2055476/original-joes-server-claims-doctor-note-denied-over-high-heels-policy/
my work just implemented this. Excruciating pain…. Every single girl is in so so much pain. My toes turned blue the other day….. Nice the bartenders are in cozy runners… All the men are cozy AF!! Heels are so sexist to be forced on you… Especially having never really worn them before, to me it legit would be like asking a guy to wear them and now hustle for 8 hours on them, not one man could do it I betcha!! Im not beanded just because I’m a female to wear heels, come on… I am fucking human
https://www.change.org/p/stop-sexist-dress-codes-earlsrestaurant-moxies-official-jack-astors-joeyrestaurants?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=534407
http://www.cbc.ca/punchline/not-the-news/waitress-tired-of-looking-at-profoundly-unattractive-male-customers
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https://t.co/G9pBEeC0xw
http://globalnews.ca/news/3364484/mandatory-high-heels-banned-in-all-b-c-workplaces-regulation-changed/