Employees got the right to sit in malls, shops in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the second state to enact a law that benefits private employees

The state government enacted legislation to provide relief to employees working in shops, retail stores and malls

Relief to employees working standing in malls, retail stores for 8 to 10 hours

Chennai: Employees working in shops and private businesses in Tamil Nadu have now been given the right to sit. Tamil Nadu became the second state in the country to implement such a law. Earlier, the Kerala government had implemented the law. The Tamil Nadu government enacted a law in September to provide relief to employees working in shops and private establishments, giving them the legal right to sit on the job.

The right to sit is proving to be very beneficial especially for female employees, as they used to work standing up for 8 to 10 hours in shops and retail stores. When they returned home from working 10 hours a day, they were exhausted and had pain in their ankles and heels.

With the passage of the law, the Tamil Nadu government urged all shopkeepers, retail store and private establishment owners in the state to make arrangements for their employees to sit during the job, and allow the employee to rest a little whenever possible during the working hours. Lakshmi, 40, who has been working in a clothing store for the last 10 years, said, "Until now, we only got a chance to sit when we got a 20-minute lunch break during our entire shift."

To support our aching legs we often tried to get some relief by taking the support of arms and legs on the shelf or some other part. The owner of the shop would not allow us to sit even if there was not a single housekeeper in the shop. It may be mentioned that in most of the cities of India, every employee working in shops, retail stores and shopping malls has to work standing up for eight hours.

Gold and jewelery shops, retail stores are being run by affluent and wealthy families in the states of South India, including Tamil Nadu, which employ women from poor and low-income families. Women employees are hired with the auspicious intention that female employees can better explain to female customers, but they are not given any leeway in the harsh terms of the job.