Work policy | Was Japan's glasses 'ban' legal?

Japan has hit headlines on several occasions over its workplace practices recently. This year, the Asian country attracted media attention after Microsoft’s Japanese arm trialled a four-day working week with a view to boost productivity.

Yet, not all of the media coverage was entirely positive. Last month, HR Grapevine’s sister publication Recruitment Grapevine reported that female jobseekers in Japan are pressured into tying their hair back into a uniform ponytail when attending job interviews as this adheres to its ‘unspoken rules’ and acts as a symbol of consistency. 

This highlighted HR issues such as workplace discrimination and gender disparity.

More recently, Japan made the news following reports that some employers had banned female employees from wearing glasses to work. It seems that this was another workplace rule that was targeted towards its female population.