Right to sit at the workplace: An overlooked labour protection

This article is authored by Aditya Gujarathi, senior resident fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

“We stand for ten hours in a day, from 11 to 9 and sit for only half an hour for lunch.” This was a reply from a worker in one of Pune’s most prominent retail clothes shops with multiple branches across the city, after I asked why there were no chairs for the staff to sit. This is during non-peak hours on a weekday. Just recollect, how often have you walked into a shop or a store in a mall and seen the workers sitting? Take a pause. The answer probably is never. We live in a system that rarely treats workers with dignity. The fact that shop-owners across the country refuse to provide something as basic as chairs to their workers is testimony of how dignity of labour is invisibilised in our society.

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According to the Labour Bureau, in 2021, a conservative estimate showed that more than 2.57 crore people are employed in the shops and establishments in India of which more than 75 lakhs are employed in Maharashtra. Various long-term medical research studies in reputed journals have highlighted occupational hazards of jobs involving standing for a substantial period without breaks. A Danish study following nearly 1.6 million workers over three years, found that employees who stood or walked for more than 75% of their work shift had significantly higher hospitalisation rates due to varicose veins. The risk was 1.85 times higher for men and 2.63 times higher for women, even after adjusting for age, smoking, and social class. Another study showed that extended work hours and physically demanding work postures, including continuous standing, are associated with increased stress on the cardiovascular system and faster progression of conditions such as carotid atherosclerosis (decreasing blood flow or completely blocking the flow of blood to the brain).

An estimate puts the number of varicose veins patients in India, at about 5% of the population, which is about 7.5 crores. The prevalence of this condition is mostly found as an occupational hazard in informal labourers, retail shopkeepers and workers, traffic police, nurses, and similar jobs which requires hours of standing without breaks.

The Right to Health is recognised as an essential aspect of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution, which means there is an obligation on the State to not violate it, and in fact, protect it. Workers’ rights in shops and establishments are governed by the Shops and Establishments Acts of the respective states and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH). OSH covers any establishment with more than ten workers – and contains a generic provision that stipulates establishments to provide “sitting arrangements for all employees obliged to work in a standing position”. The Codes were notified on November 21, 2025 but at least this provision, does not seem to have been implemented. In fact, it is the progressive states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala that have taken the lead in amending their Shops and Establishments Act by stating that every shop and establishment would have to make arrangements for sitting for all workers to avoid them being “on their toes” throughout their time of duty. The Acts were amended after worker’s protests, spearheaded by women workers in both states for ensuring legal protection to their right to sit. The right to sit of workers is primarily question of dignity than health, in a society so used to disregarding humane treatment of labour.

Bringing in such a reform will also ensure a healthier workforce in the long-run, reducing medical pressures in its middle and old age population, thereby also reducing pressure on the health care system. Such a reform will also not affect ease of doing business, as providing something as basic as a stool or a chair will not substantially increase costs or create difficulties in running the business. It is unfortunate and representative of the times we live in that any proposed labour reform involving dignity of labour has to now stand the test of ease of doing business.

This article is authored by Aditya Gujarathi, senior resident fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.