When Your Boss Insists You Must Wear Heels To Work

Do you take it lying down?

Some days you wake up and it’s 2016; other days, you could swear it is 1963. Consider this story, of a receptionist who lost a temp job for refusing to buy a pair of 2–4″ inch heels, and who has now fought back with the help of social media. It comes to us from The Guardian:

Earlier this week, Nicola Thorp said she arrived on her first day at PwC in December in flat shoes but was then told she had to wear shoes with a 2in to 4in heel.

Thorp, employed as a temporary worker by PwC’s outsourced reception firm, Portico, said she was sent home without pay after refusing to go out and buy a pair of heels. The agency has since said it is reviewing its guidelines.

I should bloody well hope so. Heels are expensive, especially the moderately comfortable ones. Fuller story, with more background, here:

Thorp told BBC Radio London: “I said, ‘If you can give me a reason as to why wearing flats would impair me to do my job today, then fair enough’, but they couldn’t. I was expected to do a nine-hour shift on my feet escorting clients to meeting rooms. I said I just won’t be able to do that in heels.”

And, as the Guardian reports, women all over are backing her up in part by posting great pictures of themselves at their workplaces in flats. FWIW, no one looks as though their job performance has been at all impaired.

Want a career in flats? #fawcettflatsFriday @fawcettsociety @metpoliceuk @MPSCadets @Police_Now @CoordBAWPpic.twitter.com/4ra6dsuLny

 — @HelenKingMPS

I've written about how flat shoes are awful, uncomfortable and how all women should wear heels http://bit.ly/27k5KHv #fawcettflatsFriday

 — @felicitymorse

We are supporting work place equality in @LDN_environment with #FawcettFlatsFriday.pic.twitter.com/PwnkxD2WRz

 — @LDN_environment

Like running marathons, wearing heels can be challenging and pleasurable if it’s volitional and torture if not. That is to say: if you choose to wear heels to work, great! But your boss shouldn’t get to make you, even in a situation with a formal dress code. Outlets from Glamour to Bustle now agree that “smart” does not have to mean “stiletto.”

SIDENOTE: I was a receptionist once. I lasted six months. Although thankfully no one cared what I had on my feet, I was talked down to, leered at, and generally mistreated. Once I was informed at the last minute that I would be working over the weekend for no extra pay. And I was expected to say yes to everything with a smile. It was a thankless job and an experience I still reflect on with some bitterness. Please, be kind to the receptionists in your life.

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