Vueling faces fine for forcing female flight attendants to wear makeup and high heels

Catalonia's labor inspection authorities intend to fine Vueling airline €30,000 for obliging its female flight attendants to wear makeup and high heels.

The proposed penalty, first reported by 'El Periódico' newspaper and confirmed by the Catalan News Agency, is the first to ever refer to a case of gender-based discrimination.

The Catalan government announced the move after cabin crew trade union Stavla reported the case, arguing that it does not occur with airlines from other countries.

The Catalan media outlet explained that the dress code for women establishes obligatory makeup depending on the person's skin color in addition to black mascara and eyeliner, and eye shadows that are not light grey or light brown.

Also according to 'El Periódico', high heels must be between 5 cm and 8 cm, although talking to the Catalan News Agency, Vueling said that their guidelines only set a minimum height of 3 cm for their female flight attendants.

As for male stewards, the dress code is much shorter and focuses on the need to look clean, says the daily.

According to the Catalan airline, the guidelines were agreed upon with workers five years ago and are at the moment being reviewed to achieve a "more inclusive" outcome.

"We have been working on it for over a year," they said to ACN, pointing out that their dress code only includes recommendations and that the company has never penalized workers who do not follow them.

The airline has already announced that it is considering appealing the labor inspection fine.