Female employees of the governor of Colombia’s Cordoba department have been banned from wearing short skirts and low-cut tops to work, reports El Tiempo.
The ban, according to the department’s governor Marta Saenz Correa, is to encourage employees to concentrate better on their work.
“We come here to work, not to show off our personal assets, so those wanting to continue working for the governor’s office must accept this change, which aims to highlight ethical and professional values and not the physical values of a person,” explained Saenz Correa.
A memo informing all employees in the office’s administrative department of the decision met with mixed reactions.
“The women working in this office are the smiling face of Cordoba and we have to show respect to our visitors and to our colleagues,” said the office’s chief of media.
Another female employee argued that “the way someone dresses does not define them … but a well-presented person generates confidence in both visitors and colleagues.”
The measure has already been put into effect, with “inappropriately” dressed employees being stopped at the office’s door and prevented from entering.