The push to enshrine seating rights represents a significant reframing: treating access to chairs not as an accommodation managers grant at discretion, but as a fundamental workplace entitlement tied to occupational health and safety.
Retail workers and labor unions across the United States are pushing employers and lawmakers to guarantee workers the right to sit down during work, citing documented health risks from prolonged standing. The push spans union contract negotiations at major retailers and new local and state laws, reflecting a fundamental reframing of workplace seating—from a discretionary accommodation managers grant to workers, to a baseline occupational safety right.
The Physical Toll
Standing for eight hours a day can trigger serious physical consequences. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reviewed evidence on prolonged standing and found it can cause low back pain, fatigue, muscle pain and leg swelling. Research has also linked extended standing to increased cardiovascular risk and pregnancy complications.
Movement appears to be the most effective protection, according to NIOSH. This means walking, or shifting between standing and sitting or leaning positions throughout the workday.
Prolonged standing can also lead to chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which damaged veins impair blood circulation, according to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. The organization recommends fatigue-reducing techniques including alternate foot propping, anti-fatigue mats, sit-stand stools and supportive footwear.
Workers Speak Out
Margaux Lantelme, who works a register at REI, knows the difference firsthand. A former kayaking instructor and citizen of both France and America, she has observed a notable difference: in France, cashiers work sitting down. In the United States, cashiers typically spend full shifts on their feet.
For Lantelme, prolonged standing triggers flare-ups of chronic pain. She requested a chair and initially received approval. But after a management change, she had to complete paperwork to keep it—a process requiring multiple doctor visits and insurance co-payments over months. She is 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 anytime they need it.”
Cecilia Ortiz, 43, worked as an airport wheelchair attendant in Phoenix. “It takes a really hard toll on the knees,” she said.
The break room had only three or four chairs for a larger workforce, so employees often sat on the floor in the hallway. Once, she was written up for sitting at an electronic device charging station for 15 minutes after five hours on her feet without a break.
She now works for a warehouse that supplies the airport. “It’s not so strict over there,” she said. “If we needed to sit down for any reason there wouldn’t be a problem.”
Prospect Airport Services, her former employer, said it adheres to all local, state and federal labor regulations. “Our employees are welcome to take their breaks and meals in our designated break room or in any common-use space throughout the airport,” spokesperson Jackie Reedy said.
At the unionized Barnes & Noble store in Manhattan’s Union Square, employee Bear Spiegel, 28, has developed knee issues from the repeated bending and standing involved in shelving books and assisting customers.
“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.
Coworkers have suggested wearing a knee brace and athletic tape, which have helped manage his symptoms. But his symptoms vary day to day, making it difficult to predict when he will need extra support.
Barnes & Noble said it uses chairs and stools routinely for workers on off-floor tasks when appropriate, though a bookseller’s work involves significant movement including unpacking, sorting and shelving books.
Organizing for Rights
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, representing about 100,000 workers, has made guaranteed seating rights a priority in every contract negotiation, including at Barnes & Noble.
“We have been pushing to include in the contracts it negotiates a guaranteed right to sit during work that can be done seated,” said Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president.
At one bargaining session, the employer objected to the demand. Union negotiators made their point during a break: they removed every chair from the negotiating table.
“I think the point was made,” Appelbaum said. The union ultimately secured seating language written into the contract.
A Long Path Forward
The United States once had stronger legal protections for workplace seating. Around the turn of the 20th century, most U.S. states had laws requiring seating for female workers. Legislators were concerned that overly taxing work might interfere with women’s capacity for motherhood.
“Women were seen as the ‘mothers of the human race, and thus we have to protect motherhood,’” said Eileen Boris, a labor historian and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Almost every state had laws, but they weren’t enforced.”
Those laws were repealed over time, partly because they applied only to women. The women’s movement prioritized equal treatment over gender-specific protections, Boris said. Labor movements in other countries succeeded more effectively at establishing universal seating requirements.
In 1964, the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency, adopted global workplace standards requiring employers to furnish sufficient and suitable seats and provide reasonable opportunities for workers to use them. More than 50 countries ratified the agreement. The United States was not among them.
Today, seven U.S. states have “right to sit” laws requiring employers to provide suitable seating for all workers, regardless of gender: California, Florida, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a municipal ordinance in October 2024 requiring manufacturers, retail stores, laundromats, hotels, restaurants, hairdressers, barbers and skin care professionals to allow workers to sit so long as it does not interfere with their duties. A statewide bill was introduced in Michigan in fall 2024.
The movement reflects a broader recognition among workers and advocates: the ability to sit is not a favor employers grant. It is a protection workers deserve.