For retail staff in Chennai, this is a favor, not a right

60-year-old Kajal has a slight limp when she walks. She attributes this to the 12-hour shifts she has been working six days a week for the past 24 years at Pothys, a prominent clothing store in Chennai. Bulging varicose veins in her legs handicapped her forever. When the pain becomes unbearable, he takes an injection and goes back to work. “Showroom chairs only appeared about two years ago. I worked standing for over 20 years. So now I also prefer to stand,” she said.

It is not uncommon to find exhausted staff dozing in the washrooms or on the stairwells of their showrooms. When asked why she came to the washroom to rest, Mahe, who has worked at the store for eight years, said: “We’ll be recorded by cameras outside. It’s private here.”

In 2021, two years after years of agitation gave workers in Kerala the right to sit, the Tamil Nadu government amended the Shops and Establishments Act 1947 and introduced a similar legal provision to ensure that every retail and showroom worker had a place to rest during working hours. A walk around the shops in Chennai revealed that several places are yet to follow this rule. Meanwhile, in some shops where arrangements have been made to allow workers to sit down, resting seems more like an indulgence than a right.

Meena, who has worked at clothing brand Trends for over four years in different parts of the city, says she has to ask for permission to sit down between working hours (9 hours, 6 days a week). When asked how she copes when she’s on her period, she says: “When I can’t stand anymore, I take painkillers and ask the store manager (male) for permission to sit in the cafeteria. Otherwise, I take a vacation.”

Yasmin, who has worked at Smart Bazaar for over 9 years, has a similar story. He says that during his nine-hour shifts, he can only sit down during a 30-minute lunch break and later a 10-minute tea break.

Even more disturbing is the plight of those who have no chairs. 28-year-old John from Manipur has been working in an expensive coffee shop in the city for 4 years and has never had a chair to stand on. “How are they going to do their work sitting down in cafes?” asked the labor inspector in Mylapore when he learned of John’s situation. “It’s not practical,” she added.

Five years after the 2021 amendment to the Shops and Establishments Act, employees’ right to rest is still neglected in many establishments. While many businesses break the 48-hour work week rule, they also ensure that staff do not slack off. Under Section 22A of the Act, it is mandatory for employers to “provide suitable seating arrangements for all employees so that they can take advantage of any opportunity to sit that may occur in the course of their work and thus avoid a ‘watchful’ situation throughout working hours”.

Still, Sai is alert throughout his 10-hour shift in the billing section at PVR Cineplex in Royapettah. When he feels the need to rest, he goes to the washroom. Are there chairs in the washroom? “No,” he smiles.

Employers who do not follow the rules can be fined according to the law. Repeated violations require higher penalties and labor inspectors should check these measures during routine visits.

One visit to the popular coffee chain’s outlet in the basement of the Express Avenue (EA) mall and it’s hard not to notice the five to six elderly women crammed inside – washing, cooking, mopping and billing. There isn’t a single chair outside or inside the drawer that barely has enough room for everyone to stand comfortably. Their operations manager, Manoj, claimed that chairs were a hindrance in their industry. So, where will these women, working 10-hour shifts with various ailments, sit when they are tired? He says they can sit behind the drawer, pointing to an even tighter space, with one stool in the middle of several jugs of water.

“Department for Employers.”

“Unlike Kerala, trade workers are not organized here. Most of them avoid talking to unions. And the labor department is completely useless here. They are pro-employers,” said AITUC Tamil Nadu general secretary M. Radhakrishnan.

While Reliance, the parent company of Trends and Smart Bazaar, did not respond to The Hindu’s queries, the PRO at PVR said it would look into it.

Pothys said, “Employees only have to work 7-8 hours a day. If they start later, they get overtime pay. They get a day off every week. And if they work those days, they’re paid for those days on top of their regular pay. Compensatory discounts are also available.”

When approached about the lack of seating arrangements for some workers at retail shops in his circle in Royapettah, Labor Inspector Narayanan pondered, “The nature of their work is such that they will have to stand. Also, will customers like it if the shopkeepers sit down between jobs?” He says he inspected EA’s mall fairly recently, but the above examples escaped his notice.

“I’ll definitely look into it,” he promised. After more than a month, the old women crammed into the cramped shop, John at the high end cafe and Sai at the PVR are all still standing.

(The names of all retail employees mentioned in the copy have been changed for privacy and job security reasons.)

Published – 27 May 2026 19:46 IST