Women paid R23 'femininity' bonus to wear make-up & skirts to work

A company in Russia is enticing its female staff to wear make-up and skirts to work by giving them bonuses.

According to CNN, the initiative is part of a "femininity marathon" campaign by aluminium producer Tatprof, which will run until June 30.

The bonus - which is 100 rubles (about R23) - supposedly rewards women for embracing their femininity in the male-dominated company, but there are some rules:

• The skirt or dress they wear must be no longer than five centimetres from the knee;
• They'll only be given their extra cash once they're submitted proof of their participation in the form of a photograph.

The company has come under fire on social media for the campaign, which one Twitter user labelled as "straight up sexism".

Another tweeted that it was "disgusting abuse of power" that exploited women. 

Tatprof has rejected accusations of sexism; apparently 60 of its female employees have already taken advantage of the bonus.

Company spokeswoman Anastasia Kirillova said that the "femininity marathon” was dreamt up by Tatprof CEO Sergei Rachkov because he was concerned about the issue of "mixing gender roles", reports the BBC.

"[Rachkov] really wants to maintain the female essence in every female employee of the company, so that young women do not have male haircuts, do not change into trousers, so that they engage themselves in handicraft, project all their warmth into raising children," Kirillova told Russian media.

The company is planning other "femininity" events in June, as well as competitions for its male employees.