I thought it was April Fools day when I read the report of the receptionist who was sent home from work because she wasn’t wearing high heels.

Could this really happen in the 21st century?

Apparently it can. The woman in question (Nicola Thorp) was told to either buy herself a pair of heels, or vacate the workplace. I’m delighted that she chose the latter, and she’s since started a campaign outlawing such discriminatory rules.

I accept that high heels can be very attractive, but I think everyone knows how much damage they can do to your spine hips and feet – (and I won’t even go into the pain that these shoes can inflict.)

It’s a free world (for most of us), and I fully support the right of women to wear any shoes they like, but when employers feel they can insist on painful, damaging footwear, I wonder about the world we have created for ourselves.

But then, maybe I’m just jealous, because I can’t wear heels without looking like an ungainly little kid who’s playing with her mum’s shoes.

(And I should point out that the shoes in the photos all came from the wardrobes of my beautiful, independent, free-thinking daughters.)

The firm in question has since scrapped the high-heel rule, but still insists that women wear make-up at all times. Don’t even start me…..!

(This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com)