If you’ve ever worked in the service industry, you’ve probably been reprimanded for sitting on the job.
In America, sitting during a service job is incredibly uncommon. Service workers frequently spend all day on their feet, even if their role involves staying in one position for a long period of time. This is a stark contrast to Europe, where cashiers are allowed and encouraged to sit while performing their daily duties.
Due to the stigma around sitting on the job, workers have come up with their own solutions for taking a moment’s rest without technically sitting down, as TikTok user Gigi (@gigii.guerrero) recently demonstrated in a video with over 947,000 views.
@gigii.guerrero ♬ Ride Or Die – From “Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack” – Megan Thee Stallion & VickeeLo
“POV: you can’t sit at work,” she writes in the text overlaying the video. The video then shows several McDonald’s workers in various non-standing states, such as leaning against a wall or suspending themselves above a counter using their arms.
In the comment section, many users complained about rules that forbid employees from sitting.
“No cus that no sitting stuff just seems so inhumane to me,” wrote one user.
“…the managers that yell at employees for sitting down are the same ones sitting all day in their office,” claimed a second. “I’m gonna sit.”
“I literally have feet & leg problems because I stand for 9 hours everyday,” detailed an additional TikToker. “Petition to let workers sit at their jobs.”
There are several states that have “right to sit” provisions. For example, in California, “almost all employees have a right to sit down to do their jobs—if the nature of the work allows it. Under a once little-known legal provision, California employers must provide all employees ‘with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats,’” explains law firm Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver, LLP.
For states without such laws, some users shared their own hacks to get some relief for their feet during a long day on the job.
“When I worked in fast food I straight up went to the bathroom just so I could sit down,” recalled a user.
“I be standing on one foot at a time leaning on a counter giving one foot at a time some rest,” added another.
“The squatting in freezer ‘looking for something’ and the bathroom breaks are essentials,” noted a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to McDonald’s via email and Gigi via TikTok comment.
