If they got laid on the floor behind their checkouts it would create even more chaos
I worked as a cashier for a summer, and even though we had the option of sitting on high stools, it was easier to stand, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. You don’t lose your balance reaching for things, bagging things, lifting heavy things…
In most of the places I’ve worked as a cashier, we’ve had those anti-fatigue mats to stand on. They seem to help some.
IMO it creates the perception of laziness and in some cases encourages cashiers to be lazy.
At home depot cashiers are expected to be out in the main Isle to straighten out end caps and great customers to bring them to their register. In one of my stores that we experimented with letting them use stools after the cashiers requested and promised it would not affect their performance.
The result was after a month it became more a chore for the front end supervisor to tell cashiers to get off the stools and be in front of their registers. We then took stools away one by one from any cashier that was caught sitting when then had no customers. A few of the better (and also older) cashiers maintained their chairs but most lost them.
If you’ve time to be sitting, you could be cleaning/straightening/restocking something instead.
lots of jobs require standing without much walking. good shoes or a rubber mat would help in all of those.
I used to work at a machine shop type place. At one point, I got to help design the work stations, which were custom-built in house.
A lot of the tasks really weren’t suitable for seated workers…like a cashier with bagging they might require turning to work on something behind you every few minutes or they required the worker to move several feet and grab a new piece to work on every 5 minutes or so. A lot of these tasks were done at seated workstations before I helped reevaluate. We found that getting up and sitting back down 15 times an hour was hard on the back, as was turning to work on something behind you. Also, lifting moderately heavy objects from a seated position is really hard on the back.
The key to a comfortable standing workstation was what we called the “bar rail”, a footrest mounted about a foot above the floor that allowed the worker to put one foot up and lean into the work station. We also provided proper height stools which allowed the worker the option of sitting or standing by just sliding their butts on or off the stool without having to constantly bend or straighten up. These weren’t used that often.
I’ve never understood this either, and was talking about it the other day after seeing yet another standing shop worker. In my youth, working at a sweet shop, I asked for a chair, but was refused one, and didn’t push it.
At busy times I had multiple jobs to do so that I was not just standing, but running between different parts of the shop.
But there were quiet times too, where every conceivable task in the store had been done, and you were obliged to be behind your counter looking approachable; taking a walk meant being away from the till, and was a no-no.
Even a few minutes’ sitting could have made a difference - standing was more painful than moving around.
Providing cashiers with a seat does not mean they are expected or allowed to sit in it all the time. It doesn’t make you look less approachable either.
Even WRT repetitive strain injuries, making the same moves from a seated versus standing position occasionally would help.
Here in Germany supermarket cashiers always sit in normal chairs and it seems to work just fine. In some home improvement and furniture stores they stand because so many products don’t fit on a conveyor belt. In stores with counters and not supermarket-style checkout lanes the cashiers generally stand.
In the UK, not only do supermarket cashiers sit, you also have to bag yourself unless you ask for a special helper.
I know!
To be fair, many supermarkets employ older people who would otherwise be retired. They couldn’t do that if they all had to stand all the time.
They do everything in Europe to promote better health and quality of life. Here in the US the low paying cashier jobs that older people take require standing for 8 hours. There is nothing wrong with providing a stool if there is room. Yes, bagging might require hopping down, but while waiting for customer to enter PIN or use credit card is the perfect amount of time to get off ones feet. And that being done repeatedly over 8 hours is more beneficial than during a break. I worked as a cashier and I know when my legs hurt I was less likely to do a good job, like my job and smile. I would go home and collapse with leg pain. Nothing hot done around my house until i had a day off. I could not sleep from the aching and my family suffered. I quit as soon as I was able. I worked with a lot of seniors and I don’t know how they did it and looking back, it just seems cruel and unusual to treat our retired treasures in this manner. A retired person who contributed to society and can’t live on pension or social security forced to cashier or door greet forced to stand all day and reprimanded by an uppity retail manager for leaning on something. Shameful isn’t it? For all those who replied before me, why don’t you put yourself in their shoes or think about one of your loved ones in that position. Better yet, why don’t you try it when you are 50 or 60 or 70 years old.
Quoting myself.
Since this post, I’ve moved to a different state and gotten a desk job. However, it’s order fulfillment, in many ways the same thing as cashiering without the customer staring at me. I’ve carefully set up and customized my desk, but I’d still like to stand instead.
Interestingly enough though, a lot of people use standing desks at desk jobs. Sitting isn’t necessarily better for your health - and it can contribute to back issues.Sitting for eight hours a day and doing all the reaching required to cashier wouldn’t necessarily be great for your body either.
What would be best is if cashiers were permitted to sit as they need to, stand as they need to. There isn’t a lot of room for a chair, but as someone said up thread, if you could build something in that could be tucked away - so it didn’t become a tripping hazard of its own…
Two of our regular Target cashiers sit - I’m assuming its “reasonable accommodation.”
In some stores, such as grocery stores or mixed department/grocery stores (Walmart, Target), the cashier has to reach for the item, scan it and then bag it. It wouldn’t be nearly as easy to do if they were sitting.
I recently visited an ALDI supermarket for the first time. For anyone who isn’t familiar with ALDI, they are a German grocery store chain and they operate differently than other stores here in the U.S. At least 90% of their products are private label (their brand) and very few items come in more than one size. You pay a quarter deposit to get your cart and get your quarter back when you return it. That alleviates the need for employees to gather carts periodically. They also don’t have baggers. The cashier scans your items, places them back into a cart and you pay. After you have paid, you move to a counter area near the exit to bag the groceries yourself. It’s very strange for those of us who have grown up with ‘full-service’ grocery stores. But they have very high quality products and prices are incredible. I saved a ton, but that’s not my point…
The cashiers at ALDI sit in desk/office-type chairs at their registers. They also pay well above minimum wage, so their employee retention is higher than other retailers.
In some clothing/department stores, I agree that a stool would only make sense. The best that most stores provide is a padded mat which helps to cushion their hard floors. Spending 8+ hours on your feet is very uncomfortable, especially if you are over 40 and/or you are a bit heavy.
The cashiers at my local ALDI do sit. Nice bit of store design there.
Mom-and-pop shops often have a chair behind the counter and then stand up to deal with customers.
I have to agree. A service employee who is sitting or worse yet leaning against something looks unprofessional, unapproachable and like they don’t give a damn about their job.
About ALDI:
I almost never use a shopping cart at my grocery store of choice - I show several times a week, and take a reusable bag with me. I put the items in the bag as I go. When I reach the checkout counter, I take things out of the bag, let them scan them, and then either I or a bagger puts them back.
Would I have to get a cart at ALDI, or is there a setup for people like me?
No cart needed, that’s solely if you want one (and there’s a 1 quarter deposit on carts - you insert the coin to release the cart from storage, you get your quarter back when you return the cart to storage). Lot’s people just carry stuff, or load up a bag, unload it at the register for scanning, and repack. So - at Aldi’s you can just do what you normally do, no problem.
There is always at least one spare cart at the end of the register set up - they’ll scan and drop your items into that cart, and you can just scoop and repack right there if you want, lots of people do it.
Most of the cashiers I see in Europe are either standing or have a stool, the kind that rotates back and forth easily. They’re smaller than a chair and can be pushed back so the cashier can stand for a while. But as most of them rotate jobs during the day, going from stocker to cashier to fruits-weighter is already pretty efficient at making sure they change position and move.
Anyone with back or leg problems who really needs a stool or chair would have to have one under the ADA. 'Course, they also don’t have to hire you if you mention the accommodation in your interview.