Lately, I’ve seen a lot of headlines stating that the UK’s Trade Union Congress has launched a motion to ban high heels in UK work places. Naturally, people are now arguing over whether or not high heels are sexist, and if we had two cents for everyone’s “two cents” on the matter, we’d all be rich.

Before knowing the facts, I was even lured into a few debates on the issue — and as you can imagine, I get kind of snappy about the idea of anyone taking away a woman’s right to wear heels. I get even more snappy when I think that a group, possibly comprised mostly of men, is determining what is and isn’t sexist towards women.

But to clear things up, the Trade Union Congress is apparently not trying to ban high heels. In fact, according to a recent post on the TUC’s Touch Stone Blog, their current policy “that employers shouldn’t require workers to wear uncomfortable or dangerous footwear” is aimed to reduce long-term foot problems.

The blog goes on to state that the new motion was put forward by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. Included is the following excerpt from the motion:

all employers who have dress codes that promote high heels to examine the hazards their women workers face and ensure that proper risk assessments are carried out, and that where these show the wearing of high heels is hazardous the high heels should be replaced with sensible and comfortable shoes.

If you’re so inclined, check out the rest of the Nicola Smith’s blog post, which even links to the full motion.