Right to sit

Right to sit

After Kerala, TN is set to mandate seating facilities for salespersons during work hours.

A shop worker sitting on a stool is not something many Indian customers are comfortable with. The employers back the customers, insisting that standing salespersons appear “respectable” and create a “good” impression. All that is going to change in Tamil Nadu, as it has already changed in Kerala. The Tamil Nadu Government has tabled a Bill in the Assembly to provide mandatory seating facilities for salespersons during working hours. The Bill, seeking an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947, proposes a new section: “The premises of every establishment shall have suitable seating arrangements for all employees so that they may take advantage of any opportunity to sit which may occur in the course of their work and thereby avoid (being) on their toes… throughout the working hours.” However, the Bill does not have a punishment clause for the shop owners who violate the rule. Still, it is a beginning in righting the wrongs millions of shop workers suffer. In late 2018, Kerala brought in a similar law after a women workers’ organisation, Asanghadita Mekhala Tozhilali Union, launched an agitation for making the right to sit a part of functional work ethics. Salespersons in Kerala today get stools or chairs to sit when they are not required to stand to attend to customers. On an average, salespersons work for nine to 12 hours in shops, standing all the time. Most of them develop arthritis, knee problems, varicose veins, water retention in the lower limbs and blood pressure over the years.

The lack of seating arrangement is only one of the issues. Most shops do not have toilet facilities and even where these exist, they are dirty or not suited for women employees. In most shops, they are under constant CCTV surveillance, subject to camera abuse. The Tamil Nadu Bill is bound to lead to complaints from owners because they realise that once the floodgates open, other, rightful, changes will follow. Arguments already exist that the right to sit cannot be universal because some types of work, like assembly chain processes, cannot be done sitting. The point they miss is that workers must be handled with dignity and they need a comfortable work environment. An assembly chain worker should get adequate breaks every four hours, just like a salesperson can sit when customers are not around. The progressive amendments in these two States should encourage national laws on workplace ethics. The UK has the most comprehensive such laws in the world, called the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1992. One of the primary rules is that employers “must provide seats for workers who have to stand to carry out their work, if the type of work gives them an opportunity to sit from time to time”. The rules are effective because they have been framed by consulting the workers who know the problems related to work, health and safety that they face and help spot workplace risks.