Right to sit
The right to sit, also known as suitable seating, refers to laws or policies granting workers the right to be given seating at the workplace. Jurisdictions that have enshrined "right to sit" laws or policies include Austria, Japan, Germany, Mexico, France, Spain, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, South Africa, Eswatini, Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Lesotho, Malaysia, Brazil, Israel, Ireland, Zambia, Guyana, the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the British overseas territories of Gibraltar and Montserrat. Almost all states of the United States and Australia, as well as the majority of Canadian provinces, passed right to sit legislation for women workers between 1881 and 1917. US states with current, gender-neutral right to sit legislation include California, Florida, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin.
A right to sit provision is included in the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964; the international treaty being ratified by 52 countries as of 2023. EU-OSHA recommends suitable seating as a best practice. Local jurisdictions with right to sit laws include Ann Arbor, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; and London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Some jurisdictions have revoked their right to sit laws, including Quebec, Washington, D.C., the majority of US states, and some cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and Portland. Many right to sit laws originally contained gendered language specifying women workers only. Some jurisdictions maintain gendered laws, such as Belize and Trinidad and Tobago, but many jurisdictions have amended their right to sit laws to be gender neutral. Jurisdictions without general right to sit laws often grant seating to disabled, pregnant, or minor workers as a reasonable accommodation. In some workplaces, unionized workers have gained suitable seating provisions in their work contracts.
About
Right to sit laws have been enacted in some form in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania. Cashiers typically sit down while working in many European countries, where right to sit laws are common. This is partly because many large European retail chains let customers bag their own groceries rather than have the cashier do the bagging.The German supermarket chain Aldi allows cashiers to sit while attending to their registers, in accordance with German labor law. In jurisdictions without right to sit laws, Aldi still allows their workers to sit down not because of concern for worker health or comfort, but rather due to research which suggests that workers who are allowed to sit down are more productive and efficient.
American corporations have strongly opposed right to sit laws. According to John Logan, the director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University, corporate opposition to these laws is "about maintaining unilateral control of the workplace" and maintaining "flexibility" for owners to do what they want.
Some labor unions have demanded suitable seating provisions in worker contracts as part of collective bargaining negotiations.
By jurisdiction
In much of Europe it is the norm for cashiers to sit while working, whereas prolonged standing while working is the norm in most of North America, Asia, and Australia.European Union
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has suitable seating requirements in Directive 89/391/EEC.International law
Article 14 of the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 establishes that "ufficient and suitable seats shall be supplied for workers and workers shall be given reasonable opportunities of using them." This United Nations convention has been ratified by 52 states as of 2023. The law entered into force on 29 March 1966.Algeria
ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 12 June 1969.Anguilla
The Shops Regulation Act of Anguilla grants suitable seating to female workers, stating that "The owner or occupier of any shop to which this Act applies in which female shop assistants are employed shall at all times provide and keep therein a sufficient number of suitable seats or chairs for the use of such female shop assistants and shall permit them to use such seats or chairs when not necessarily engaged in the work or duty for which they are employed."Antigua and Barbuda
Chapter 400 of Antigua and Barbuda's Shops Regulation Act grants suitable seating to female workers, stating that "The owner or occupier of any shop to which this Act applies in which female shop assistants are employed shall at all times provide and keep therein a sufficient number of suitable seats or chairs for the use of such female shop assistants and shall permit them to use such seats or chairs when not necessarily engaged in the work or duty for which they are employed."Argentina
passed a suitable seating law in 1935 stating that all workers must be provided chairs with backrests, provided that the job can be reasonably performed while seated.Azerbaijan
ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 19 May 1992.Australia
Along with New Zealand, 49 of the 50 states of the United States, and most Canadian provinces, the majority of Australian states passed right to sit legislation during the late 1800s and early 1900s.According to Safe Work Australia, an Australian government agency, "Too much sitting or standing is bad for your health. Prolonged standing can increase risk of fatigue and illness. Workers should not stay in a seated, standing or static posture for long periods. Persons conducting a business or undertaking have a duty to keep workers safe from the risks of excessive sitting and standing." The agency recommends that employers provide their workers with a "chair, stool or support, so they can alternate between sitting and standing" or "a footrest large enough for the whole foot, so they can stand with either foot raised."
New South Wales
passed a right to sit law in the 1890s.As of 2008, the right to sit law in New South Wales stated that "When requested by employees and where practicable, suitable seats shall be provided by the employer for employees."
Queensland
passed a right to sit law in the 1890s.South Australia
In 1896, South Australian MP King O'Malley unsuccessfully introduced the "Seating in Shops Bill" requiring seats to be provided for shop assistants.Victoria
The state of Victoria had a right to sit law in 1956, for those working in clothing manufacturing. The law stated that "hen requested by employees, and where practicable, suitable seats shall be provided by the employer for female employees in positions handy to their work."Western Australia
passed a right to sit law on December 16, 1899.Austria
's General Employee Protection Ordinance includes a right to sit provision. Enacted in 1995, the law states that "For work that is permanent or temporary sitting can be performed, work seats must be made available to employees at the workplace. If, for operational reasons, work seats cannot be set up or used directly at the workplace, even though the work processes and procedures permit temporary sitting, seats must be provided near the workstations."Belarus
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 26 Feb 1968.Belgium
ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 17 May 1978.Belize
's Shops Act, Chapter 287, states that women workers have a right to suitable seating. The law states that "The occupier of every shop in which female shop assistants are employed shall at all times provide and keep...chairs or other suitable accommodation behind the counter or in such other position as may be suitable for the purpose for the sole use of such female shop assistants in the proportion of not less than one chair or other seating accommodation to every three females employed and shall permit them to make use of such chairs or other seating accommodation when they are not necessarily engaged in the work or duty for which they are employed..."Bolivia
ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 31 January 1977.Brazil
In Brazil, Article 199 of the Consolidation of Labor Laws mandates the placement of seats that assure a worker's right posture, capable of avoiding uncomfortable or forceful positions, whenever the task demands the worker to be seated. This same article has a single paragraph stating, furthermore, that when a worker performs a task standing, seats will be made available during the existing resting periods.Brazil ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 24 March 1969.
Bulgaria
ratified the International Labour Organization's Hygiene Convention, 1964 on 29 March 1965.Cameroon
's right to sit law states that "There shall be provided suitable seats for the use of workers whose work is carried while sitting continuously or intermittently." The law was passed in 1984.Canada
There is no right to sit provision under Canadian federal law. At least nine of the ten Canadian provinces and two of the three territories have passed right to sit legislation at some point: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.Right to sit laws have been repealed in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Quebec. Right to sit laws are active in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan. Nunavut and Northwest Territories both have active right to sit laws.