CHENNAI: ‘Right to sit’ is a long way from becoming the reality of workers in the state’s commercial establishments. Here’s what workers and labour activists have to say about the situation and the impending implementation of the Right to Sit bill.
Raman* has been working 12-hour shifts at one of the city’s most popular jewellery showrooms. Even as the brand is known for its fine craftsmanship, fair (relatively) prices and creative ads, serving the customer in every way one expects, its treatment of its own staff leaves much to be desired, it seems. In almost all of their showrooms, you’ll be hard put to find a single chair/stool on the employee side of the display counters. It’s no different at the showroom Raman works at. All these showrooms have a designated ‘rest’ space — be it behind the building, a storeroom-turned-dining room, the tail end of a staircase, or canteen; this is where employees get to spend their 40-minute lunch time and any short break they manage to squeeze in through the day. Besides that, it is over 11 hours of standing, six-seven days a week, all year round.
Today marks the 19th observation of World Day for Safety and Health at Work. While much has been said about workplace safety in terms of accidents and injuries (and little done about it still), this seemingly innocuous health hazard hardly gets any attention. Many B2C (business-to-consumer) brands work under the pretext that the customer is king. Retail outlets, however, go every step beyond that basic principle to establish a work culture where only the customer is human.
How many times have you walked into a Lifestyle or Max, for instance, and had their staff flock to you at the slightest suggestion that you need help? But did you pause to notice that none of them have a seat to return to when you dismiss their offer to help? How often have we walked up to pay for a purchase at a hypermarket and found that the person at the counter has a chair or stool by the table? At smaller outlets, especially in malls, have you noticed that the two-three workers in attendance take turns to rest on the lone stool by the counter? In more places than we would like to admit, standing through the shift hours is the norm.
The status quo
“Ninnu ninnu kaale sethu pochu, madam,” admits Kalai*, an employee at a popular clothing store in the city; this particular outlet was located inside a crowd-favourite mall. For four years now, she has been in charge of the trial section. While every trial room has a stool for the customer, Kalai is not allowed to make use of them. She spends her 12-hour shifts standing by the entrance of the trial section or fetching clothes for customers. “If I need to use the restroom, they will send someone to relieve me for five-ten minutes. Even when I have to go for lunch, someone has to take my place. For lunch, we go to the pantry/canteen. That is the only break we get,” she says.
A security staff at a home decor store at the same mall says that they get 15 minutes of break during the working hours. However, they would have to go all the way to the canteen outside the main building to get tea and sit down for a bit. Naturally, walking to the canteen and back takes away a good chunk of the 15 minutes. So, not everyone does it every day. Reprieve comes only in the form of a solid lunch break.
Workers at a sari store in T Nagar, under the watchful eyes of supervisors, said that they do not have a ‘stand at all times’ rule. Even as there are barely a couple of stools along each display counter, they claimed that it is the work that keeps them on their toes all day.
“In a small store, there will be fewer customers and so people get to take breaks and sit down. Ithu periya kadai la? Velai seriya irukum,” said one employee. Would he have answered differently had his supervisor not been around? It certainly was the case with a cleaning staff I encountered at a mall. After revealing that taking a break would result in pay cuts, she said that just talking to someone in the corridors of the mall, could get them in trouble as they are constantly monitored through the cameras. Even as she was finishing that sentence, her supervisor showed up to check on the interruption to work. However, it is quite likely that things are equally bad for the supervisor herself.
Human rights & humanity
While such standards of work raise serious questions about basic human rights and dignity, they willfully ignore the clear health consequences of being on one’s feet all day, every day. Raman has been suffering from a horrible case of varicose veins in his legs for years now. No amount of treatment is likely to help till its causal factor is addressed. Besides, the added benefit of double pay on weekly-offs and holidays has Raman working almost every day, removing any room for rest and recuperation.
For women like Kalai, there is naturally the added consequence of standing while on her period. It is no secret that menstruation can have a number of painful side effects for women — from very painful cramps to constant pain from the waist down, aching and fluid filled feet to back ache, there is something for everybody. Imagine having to be on one’s feet through all this…
While employers seem to have no particular intention of making life easier for their staff, there is often little that the staff themselves can do to reclaim their rights, points out S Thivya Rakini, of Tamilnadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU). “The labour is not going to ask for seating facilities. It jeopardises their job. The management always has one response when we ask about providing such facilities: it is not customer friendly. But that’s not what we are asking for. Workers can stand when a customer comes in; when there is no one to attend to, why can’t we be human enough to make them sit?” she questions.
Both Thivya and advocate J Prathaban (who specialises in labour cases) have many grievances about the efficacy of the Labour department that is supposed to look into issues of workplace safety. “The situation with seating arrangements for workers is as bad as any other labour welfare measure. Labour inspectors are supposed to inspect shops for provisions like restroom facilities, check if minimum wage and overtime pay is in effect, monitor for underage workers, and review safety measures. In any place in Tamil Nadu, you’ll find record of the labour inspector having visited the establishment but what comes out of it?” he asks. Efforts to reach any official at the Commissionerate of Labour for insights into the issue proved futile, with our call being bounced from one department to another before being dropped.
Hope along the way
It’s been seven months since the state tabled the Right to Sit amendment to the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947, in order to make it mandatory for commercial establishments in the Act’s purview to provide seating facilities for its staff. “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 ‘on their toes’ situation throughout the working hours,” reads the proposed amendment.
The mere suggestion has spurred some brands into action. Pothys is one such early bird — its staff at the T Nagar outlet point out that stools and benches were provided behind counters soon after the announcement; a facility available across its outlets. Sundari Silks too picked up on the suggestion, making the work day so much better for its staff, who used to sit down on the floor behind the counter when they did not have customers to serve.
There are of course brands like Nalli, where this has been the norm since the beginning. Its manager Babu remarks that it is because of their proprietor and his principle of taking care of the employee to take care of the customer that they enjoy such a work culture. Yet, in too many places, the luxury to sit is incidental — where it’s a smaller unit and there are fewer people in need of the facility, or there are plenty of seats in place for the customer and in their absence, the staff get to benefit (like a shoe store).
The amendment is still a couple of weeks away from coming into effect. Perhaps, that will inspire more compliance. However, there’s much that can be done in the meantime. This year’s theme for World Day for Safety and Health at Work is ‘enhancing social dialogue towards a culture of safety and health’.
In that spirit, perhaps, take note of the people who make your life a little easier. Perhaps, lodge a complaint with the authorities on their behalf. Perhaps, write to your MLAs and ministers about the state of affairs in your city/town. Perhaps, spread the word on the pertinence of this basic facility and workers’ right to sit. *Names changed