Suitable Seating - Employers It's the Law!

The landmark decision by the California Supreme Court on suitable seating can be the beginning for other states to follow suit. California employment law requires that "all working employees shall be provided with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats." Recently there have been a number of lawsuits where employees sued their employer for not providing suitable seating. Walmart settled a PAGA Claim for, are you sitting down for this? $65 million! Bank of America paid $15 million to settle a class action suit brought by bank tellers against the company for failure to provide suitable seating. Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a similar class action brought by sales associates.

Even when the nature of the work requires standing, an adequate number of seats must be "placed in reasonable proximity to the work area," and employees must be allowed to use those seats at times when it doesn't interfere with their job duties. What the law means exactly and how to interpret it is not yet entirely clear. If you have a category of employees who are traditionally required to stand in one place, you may want to ask yourself whether their duties are such that you could provide them with seats.

After this presentation you will know:

- What the law means exactly and how to interpret it for your company and employee's
- Ergonomic factors to keep in mind
- Different types of seating that could be used to satisfy the requirement