Lucia Gallardo remembers wearing knee-high boots, tiny pencil skirts and, at times, corsets to work as a server.



They aren’t fond memories, and she’s sick of other women being required to do the same.



As legislation that would ban footwear requirements based on gender takes some initial steps in British Columbia, some in the local restaurant industry say this province needs to do more when it comes to dress-code discrimination in the workplace.



B.C. Premier Christy Clark recently expressed support for legislation that would make it illegal to require women to wear high heels on the job in her province. The private member’s bill, proposed on International Women’s Day by B. C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver, would prevent employers from setting footwear requirements based on gender. Clark called these kinds of dress codes “old-fashioned” and “unacceptable” on her Facebook page.



Heels would not be banned from workplaces, but an employer requiring staff to wear them would need to have the same requirement for all staff — male or female.



Gallardo, 22, has worked in six restaurants in Ottawa since she was 18. At one now-closed restaurant, Gallardo said she was required to wear a short skirt that she frequently had to pull it back down to avoid exposing herself.



“I realize it’s a business, but there’s more to me than just my skin,” she said.



When she wore a revealing uniform, Gallardo said customers treated her differently and she felt more like an object than a person.



“I’d like to see a loose dress code, so you can wear heels and a short skirt if you want, but not as a requirement.”



Gallardo said another bar made female staff wear knee-high leather boots and pencil skirts, and one restaurant made female staff wear corsets for a time.



She now works as a server in The Rowan, a restaurant on Bank Street without a strict dress code.



The issue of sexist dress codes in the workplace was raised in Ottawa as recently as last year, when male workers at Centretown restaurant Union 613 slipped into skirts and heels to protest dress code discrimination in the restaurant business.



In Ontario, workplaces are permitted to enforce a dress code as long as it does not violate the human rights of its employees. An example of a violation would be different treatment based on a person’s gender that is deemed unreasonable to the job.



“I am not aware of any similar initiatives in Ontario (similar to the bill in B.C.), but the Ontario Human Rights Code should deter violations,” said Ontario Human Rights Commission chief commissioner Renu Mandhane.



Mandhane said any requirement in the workplace that holds men and women to different standards can raise issues of gender discrimination, but she is confident legislation in Ontario goes far enough to protect employees.



Not everyone feels that way.



Ivan Gedz, co-owner of Union 613, said staff at his Somerset Street restaurant, whether male or female, can wear what they like while working.



Gedz said laws regarding workplace discrimination in Ontario are mostly clear but said there is still much work to be done to enforce the rules. There are few mechanisms, apart from the legislation, to help people facing this kind of workplace discrimination, he added.



Gedz said he has had his eye on the private member’s bill in B.C. and would like to see similar legislation proposed in Ontario.



Another part of the issue, Gedz said, is that many servers are young and either don’t know their rights or can’t afford to lose the income, so they work despite how they may be feeling about the restaurant’s dress code.



In a report released in March by the OHRC called Not on the Menu, the commission found that women who refused dress codes in the restaurant industry may be at greater risk of losing employment.



The report also found that dress codes requiring workers to wear a particular type of shoes, such as high heels, may put those workers at greater risk for their health and safety.



— With files from The Canadian Press