Press Release
August 15, 2017

Nancy lauds DOLE move to ban high heels, provide rest periods for female workers

Senator Nancy Binay on Tuesday lauded the plan of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to craft a policy that would ban the wearing of high heels in the workplace and provide female workers with rest periods from long hours of standing.

"This move 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 said.

Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III was quoted in news reports saying that he has 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.

"It is simply unfair to force female workers working in these establishments to wear high heels and stand for long hours without sitting, when these expose them to various safety and health hazards. Sadyang masakit sa paa gamitin ang mga high heels na ito at lalong delikado ang magtrabaho nang suot ang mga ito dahil maaari itong maging sanhi ng injury dahil sa pagkakadulas at tapilok," Binay said.

"Kaya nga isang malaking hakbang tungo sa makataong pagtrato sa mga kababaihan sa kanilang pinagtatrabahuhan ang polisiyang ito," added the senator, who has long called for 15-minute sitting breaks for salesladies in a proposed measure which she has refiled yet again this 17th Congress.

Originally filed when Binay first took office as senator, Senate Bill No. 1173 aims to amend Section 132(A) of the Labor Code by requiring owners and operators of malls, department stores and similar establishments to grant their female employees assigned in sales 15-minute rests every two hours of continuous and uninterrupted sales and store operation assignments.

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

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