The French National Assembly has approved a bill that would stop discrimination against afros, dreadlocks and braids as the country looks to prohibit prejudice against people over hairstyles at workplaces.

MP Olivier Serva, French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, proposed the bill, citing an American study about a quarter of black women saying they have been kept out of jobs because of their choice of hairstyles during interviews, the BBC reported.

If passed into law by the French Senate, which is expected to debate the bill, employers would be banned from requiring hair to be straightened and for afros, dreadlocks and braids to be covered.

Mr Serva hopes the law will protect people who have suffered discrimination in workplaces because of their hairstyles, especially black people, as well as bald victims, people blondes and redheads of what it calls “hair prejudice”.

“People who don’t fit in Eurocentric standards are facing discrimination, stereotypes and bias,” Mr Serva said.

Meanwhile, not everyone is pleased with the move, as critics argue the bill goes against already existing French law preventing the gathering of personal data about an individual on the basis of race or ethnic background entrenched within the French Republic’s “universalist” principles.