WOMEN working from home have been coerced into dressing “sexier” and wearing makeup for video calls, with some fearing that failing to could negatively affect their careers. 

According to a survey by employment-law firm Slater and Gordon, a third of women have been asked by bosses to wear more makeup or change their hair. 

The study of 2,000 women also found that just under than one in three had been asked to dress more sexily or provocatively.

The law firm said that bosses justified their sexist demands by suggesting that it would “help to win new business” or “it would be more pleasing to the client.” 

A quarter of the women surveyed said that they acceded to demands to change their appearance over fears that not doing so could harm their careers. 

Slater and Gordon lawyer Danielle Parsons said it was “categorically wrong” for managers to ask female employees to be more sexually appealing. 

“This is a powerful form of coercion which makes women feel as if they must adhere to the manager’s request and be more visually pleasing to be successful at their job,” she said.