A London receptionist was sent home from work after refusing to wear high heels, it has emerged.
Temp worker Nicola Thorp, 27, from Hackney, arrived at finance company PwC to be told she had to wear shoes with a "2in to 4in heel".
When she refused and complained male colleagues were not asked to do the same, she was sent home without pay.
Ms Thorp said she would have struggled to work a full day in high heels and had asked to wear the smart flat shoes she had worn to the office in Embankment.
But instead she was told she should go and buy a pair of heels on her first day, back in December.
"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," Ms Thorp told BBC.
"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'."
Ms Thorp said she asked if a man would be expected to do the same shift in heels, and was laughed at.
She then spoke to friends about what had happened, and after posting on Facebook realised that other women had found themselves in the same position.
She has since set up a petition calling for the law to be changed so women cannot be forced to wear high heels to work. It has had more than 10,000 signatures, so the government will now have to respond.
As the law stands, employers can dismiss staff who fail to live up to "reasonable" dress code demands, as long as they've been given enough time to buy the right shoes and clothes.
They can set up different codes for men and women, as long as there's an "equivalent level of smartness".
"I think dress codes should reflect society and nowadays women can be smart and formal and wear flat shoes." Ms Thorp said.
"Aside from the debilitating factor, it's the sexism issue. I think companies shouldn't be forcing that on their female employees."
Temp worker Nicola Thorp, 27, from Hackney, arrived at finance company PwC to be told she had to wear shoes with a "2in to 4in heel".
When she refused and complained male colleagues were not asked to do the same, she was sent home without pay.
Ms Thorp said she would have struggled to work a full day in high heels and had asked to wear the smart flat shoes she had worn to the office in Embankment.
But instead she was told she should go and buy a pair of heels on her first day, back in December.
"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," Ms Thorp told BBC.
"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'."
Ms Thorp said she asked if a man would be expected to do the same shift in heels, and was laughed at.
She then spoke to friends about what had happened, and after posting on Facebook realised that other women had found themselves in the same position.
She has since set up a petition calling for the law to be changed so women cannot be forced to wear high heels to work. It has had more than 10,000 signatures, so the government will now have to respond.
As the law stands, employers can dismiss staff who fail to live up to "reasonable" dress code demands, as long as they've been given enough time to buy the right shoes and clothes.
They can set up different codes for men and women, as long as there's an "equivalent level of smartness".
"I think dress codes should reflect society and nowadays women can be smart and formal and wear flat shoes." Ms Thorp said.
"Aside from the debilitating factor, it's the sexism issue. I think companies shouldn't be forcing that on their female employees."
