Just accepted a part time grocery store cashier position, it’s going to be my first real job. I was worried about having to stand in one spot for 6 to 8 hours a day, but I recently found out that California has a law called the Suitable Seating Act. Here’s the summary:
(A) All working employees shall be provided with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats.
(B) When employees are not engaged in the active duties of their employment and the nature of the work requires standing, an adequate number of suitable seats shall be placed in reasonable proximity to the work area and employees shall be permitted to use such seats when it does not interfere with the performance of their duties.
Does anyone here have experience with this kind of thing in California? I hardly ever see grocery store clerks sitting, so I thought it’d be a long shot that I’d be allowed to sit down on the job until I found out this law existed. Am I interpreting it correctly?
Sure sounds like it:
- https://archive.is/J50ey / https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-court-sitting-workers-20160404-story.html
- https://archive.is/037oI / https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-lawsuit/walmart-to-pay-65-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-seating-for-cashiers-idUSKCN1ML265
Like with any kind of worker rights in the US right now, you may encounter resistance…
I can only talk about cashiers in my country. At least at supermarkets all cashiers have a chair to sit. Might be different in bakeries and other stores though.
https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/B305494.PDF
Sadly as a grocery cashier it’s unlikely if the job description matches the one at Ralph’s.
I’d recommend asking either way. My state has no such protections and I have worked at stores that provided stools (not chairs) upon request.
Unsolicited retail advice: getting in tight with the head cashier is a great way to get management to have a positive opinion of you via osmosis. Cashiers have the most downtime and therefore socialize the most. Managers can be rather cliqueish and as such if one likes you, you now have a potential advocate.
