‘It takes a toll’: Why workers want the right to sit down on the job

As a citizen of France and America, Margaux Lantelme has noticed a difference in how store cashiers work in the two countries. In France, they do their jobs sitting down; in the US, where Lantelme works a register at REI, cashiers typically spend eight hours a day on their feet.

For Lantelme, a former kayaking instructor, prolonged standing can trigger flare-ups of chronic pain that limit her mobility. She requested a chair to use during her shift and got one.

Workers in fields such as retail and hospitality can spend hours each day on their feet.Credit: Getty Images/iStock

But after a change in management, she had to fill out paperwork to keep the chair, which required multiple doctor visits and insurance co-payments over months. She’s still waiting for final approval.

“Not having access to a chair without approval from a doctor, which costs money and time and energy, is really ridiculous,” Lantelme said. “I personally think that people should be able to have access to seating at work any time they need it.”

Aches, pains and complications

Standing for long periods can lead to lower back pain, fatigue, muscle pain and leg swelling, and it can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems and pregnancy complications, according to a review conducted by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Researchers there concluded that movement, whether walking or shifting from a standing to a seated or leaning position, appeared to be the best way of reducing those health hazards.

Being on one’s feet for an extended time can also lead to chronic venous insufficiency, a disease in which damaged veins impact blood circulation, according to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), which represents operating room nurses in the US.

The association recommends trying “fatigue-reducing techniques such as alternate propping one foot on a foot stool, the use of anti-fatigue mats, using a sit-stand stool and wearing supportive footwear”, said Lisa Spruce, senior director of evidence-based perioperative practices at AORN.

The right to sit down

Many jobs besides nursing require extended standing: department store sales clerks, hairdressers, surgeons, restaurant cooks and airport workers are just some of the people who perform their roles on their feet.

Cecilia Ortiz, 43, used to work as an airport wheelchair attendant in Phoenix, Arizona. “It takes a really hard toll on the knees,” she said. The break room had three or four chairs, which wasn’t enough for everyone, so workers often went to the hallway and sat on the floor, Ortiz said.

She said she was once written up by her boss for sitting down at an electronic device charging station for 15 minutes after she had been on her feet for five hours without a break.

Ortiz now works for a warehouse that provides supplies to the airport, and when she needs to sit, she can. “It’s not so strict over there,” Ortiz said. “If we needed to sit down for any reason there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Her former employer, Prospect Airport Services, said it adheres to all local, state and federal labour regulations regarding breaks. “Our employees are welcome to take their breaks and meals in our designated break room or in any common-use space throughout the airport,” company spokesperson Jackie Reedy said. “This policy allows our employees to choose the location that best suits their needs.”

Unionised workers at the Barnes & Nobles store in Manhattan’s Union Square have made access to chairs and the right to sit down under certain conditions a part of their negotiations for their first contract.

“The longer I’ve been at the job, I’ve started noticing knee issues, especially because we do a lot of bending down and standing back up when we’re shelving books and showing customers things and creating displays,” bookseller Bear Spiegel, 28, said.

“Being able to have a stool available would be really useful, just so I could rest my knees for a couple of minutes throughout the day while I’m doing things on the computer while I’m at the registers,” Spiegel said.

Spiegel’s co-workers suggested wearing a knee brace and athletic tape, and those solutions have helped, but it was hard for him to predict what days he would need the extra support because his symptoms varied each day, he said.

“There have been days that I’ve requested a stool and, thankfully, my managers have allowed me to take them out and use them when needed,” Spiegel said.

Barnes & Noble uses chairs or stools routinely for those working off the sales floor when it’s sensible to do so, but a lot of a bookseller’s work is done on the move, including unpacking, sorting and shelving books, a company spokesperson said.

Switching between seated and standing can be best for your body.Credit: Getty Images

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents about 100,000 workers in the US and Canada, has been pushing to include in the contracts it negotiates, including at Barnes & Noble, a guaranteed right to sit during work that can be done seated, said Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president.

During one bargaining session, an employer objected to the demand. Union negotiators used a break that emptied the conference room to underline their position. “The employer came back and saw we had removed all chairs from the negotiating table,” Appelbaum said. “I think the point was made.”

In the end, the union got the chairs it wanted written into the contract, he said.

Sitting was once a protected right

Around the turn of the 20th century, most states in the US had laws requiring seating for female workers. Women were increasingly entering the workforce, and there was a fear that if their jobs were too physically taxing, they might not become pregnant, said Eileen Boris, a labour historian and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Women were seen as the “mothers of the human race, and thus we have to protect motherhood”, Boris added. “Almost every state had laws, but they weren’t enforced.”

Those laws were repealed over time because they applied only to women. One reason was that the women’s movement was pushing for equal rights, rather than special treatment, Boris said.

Labour movements in other countries were more successful in establishing requirements about seating. “The English shop movement was much stronger and had more men in it than the US [equivalent],” Boris said.

In 1964, the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, adopted workplace standards requiring employers to furnish sufficient and suitable seats, as well as reasonable opportunities for workers to use them. More than 50 countries ratified the agreement, but the US was not one of them.

Today, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon and Wisconsin are among the US states with “right to sit” laws that obligate employers to provide suitable seating for all workers, regardless of gender, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved an ordinance in October that requires manufacturers, retail stores, laundromats, hotels, restaurants, hairdressers, barbers and skin care professionals to let workers sit down along as sitting doesn’t interfere with their duties. A statewide bill was also introduced in Michigan last northern autumn.

AP

Get workplace news, advice and perspectives to help make your job work for you. Sign up for our weekly Thank God it’s Monday newsletter.