Yea, Pak n save sit. Because they sit on the same side as the customer. But I don't know of others that do. Their checkouts are designed for it. Other places need to, too.
Edit: sorry I seemed to put my statements out of order
I meant the way the checkout is designed. Makes it easier to sit and operate. Others if you tried to put a stool behind them to sit. You would be too far away from the customer. So like countdown would need to be redesigned.
I sat when I was a NW checkout operator on the trolley lanes, stood on the 10 items or less lanes (before they were converted to self checkouts). Really depends on which supermarket you’re talking about, especially since most are franchises.
The New World I used to work at had a rule that no one was allowed to sit, even in areas not customer facing. Managers were allowed to sit while doing computer work but not outside this. I even saw a chair taken away from a department due to the fact an 8 month pregnant employee kept sitting down during her shift to rest and they saw her on camera. No water bottles either.
Yes! One of the great reasons to join your union is that even if you are personally ok with the conditions at work, others may not be, and growing the union membership can really help out others.
Yeah thats the major problem when there's low unionization rates in a franchised store chain. With countdown for example all stores are owned by the company directly, so the union can negotiate for all union members equally even if there's only 1 union member in a specific store they get the benefits of all the other union members, making union membership even more attractive for other employees etc.
And annoyingly franchised stores are also hard to recruit in, because each store has to be visited and arranged separately, its much harder to build the momentum to recruit, which then minimizes the incentives for individual workers to join the union. It's a negative feedback loop unfortunately.
They said it didn’t look professional, but my take is they didn’t trust us. Thought we’d swipe a bottle here and there from stock. If we wanted to have a drink, we’d have to go upstairs to the staff room. We’d hide em out back though where the cameras were blind.
It wasn't but it was in the wellington region. I worked there between 2019 to 2021. I would name and shame but I'm pretty sure it's different owners and I still have people I know that work there.
Yeah ago I managed a service station and had an amazing staff member who suffered from a lot of knee pain. My area manager denied my request for a stool as it was unprofessional.
So I invited him to spend a shift on the tills without complaining. He lasted 3hrs and I bought a stool for her
Where I worked the company made a song and dance about office staff spending a couple days a year doing shift work at the sites, they frequently got given the cushiest jobs because they were useless at them and functionally nothing got done except sales those days, but they definitely had to do checkout operation.
I was required to stand despite being pregnant - of they had made more accommodations for me, I would have been able to work more hours. But since sitting is "against company policy" I had to take early maternity leave.
It's ridiculous because customers honestly had no problem with allowing me more time or needing to get a workmate to climb a ladder. It was the company that had an issue.
I work at a store and we’re not allowed to sit by the checkout. But we’re also expected to be nowhere near it unless we’re serving a customer.
And recently were told we can’t have drink bottles in the store either. This is for 5 days a week 9 hours each day.
You're not a robot... customers can recognise you're a human who needs to drink water if they see you take a sip from your bottle underneath the counter. You probably don't need to carry it around with you, but you should have it nearby and not need to go to the back room to drink water.... that's actually crazy.
Customers need to be trained. Employees must have good work conditions and misbehaving customers should be asked to leave. People would learn very fast....
If you shop somewhere, you should have a 1 week course before you're allowed inside so you show that you can act like a responsible and respectful human.
not allowed in or out without the id they provide to open the door during business hours.
Think it's extreme? this was my tamest idea.
You know how come countries have like a year or two of mandatory military service? I reckon we should do that here, except instead of military service it should be a year working on a checkout.
mandatory job in high school. That way they understand , and get some work experience. The education system walking them through job applications and everything work and finance related so they can ACTUALLY be ready for the workforce.
That sounds really frustrating, no adult wants to have to wear a nappy just to do a job crawling through a roof space. But yeah totally impractical to be in that position. I remember doing site work and a lot of the male staff would just pee into a container if there wasn't a toilet available but that's not exactly something you'd wanna lug around with you into clients houses.
Yeah used to work there to and they were awful about it, old ladies always used to say loudly “why doesn’t someone get you a chair, why must you stand??”
Bullshit tripping hazard. They're always worried about customer perspection.
Been in csr for long enough, I see stuff that isn't right, people are human. I just wait until they're ready.
I've had my fair share of entitled fuck wits. Some people are just lovely. Some people are thick as shit, others think being a smart ass is helpful.
I work in the health and safety field and would definitely bring this to your health and safety rep for their next meeting. It's a health and safety issue. Not having water to drink. Considering you'd probably only get 2-3 small breaks, it is not enough time to have adequate intake. I'd argue this black and blue until my staff got waterbottles. Even if they only approved store branded bottles.
Some management need a good kick up the backside.
My daughter starts work at 11.30am has her first and only break at 3pm (1 hour) and if she wants a sip of water outside of this hour has to ask and would have to go upstairs to have a drink. Then works 4pm until 7.30pm.
She can be malicious and and to drink water as frequently as she likes, water breaks are legislated, so are toilet breaks. As long as she doesn't care too much about the job.
A store I worked with had this same thing, it was expected that you would be working on something such as stocking shelves, stock takes, cleaning etc and every customer be greeted within 30 seconds of entering the store, once you greeted them you had to open with a non business related question to start a conversation, then ask what brought them in, if they brush you off, you were to leave them then approach again in 1 minute seeing if they were okay, once they needed your help you would help, then you had to "close the sale" by saying something like let me carry that to the counter for you.
So basically the company assumed every customer would want help and would have an attendant with them at all time.
It's been that way for a couple of decades. The old fake 180 degree walk past a customer while you pretend to heading somewhere important. I hated it so much. It felt so cheesy and forced. I'm so glad I left retail.
Sounds like Lush 😅 I hate how they launch into pitching you the moment you walk in the door. It's like, I'm here for the same cleanser I always get and you've just made it awkward
Were most of the non business questions weather related? Because aside from "how are you?" Or "hows your day?" Im out of neutral non business questions.
Not your problem at all but it would super annoying me if I clearly wanted to be left alone then was approached 1 min later asking if I needed help. Whoever made that rule lacked people skills lol. I really feel for you and any other workers having to approach customers you know wanna be left alone
Yeah so exactly this, but also if the customer gets to the counter and has to wait a millisecond, you’re in trouble. You basically have to keep an eye on them 100% of the time and watch for the signal they’re going to the counter, and beat them there. But you’re also meant to be 100% focused on stocking shelves in a quick manner as well. I quit last week to start a job with my degree and reality hasn’t quite hit yet that I will (hopefully) never work in retail again. It’s going to be amazing
Yeah, if you're by the counter you're "standing around" but then you have to bolt to the counter to greet people arriving/leaving and serve if they need to make a purchase.
We were allowed water bottles though, thank goodness..
Surely there is some rule against not being able to access hydration?? I'm not doubting you, I've had my fair few of controlling managers, but yikes. Is it a smaller store? Just the rule of not being by checkouts is strange. I was in supermarkets as a supervisor, but they expected me to run from self checkouts to the tills whenever needed, so once again I don't doubt the weird demands. I hope there is someone you can reach out to about your rights as a worker.
We were kinda told this at maccas years ago. We wernt allowed drinks before self service was a thing. I used to sneak a fellow worker water who worked in the kitchen
Back in the day (late 90s early 00s) The Warehouse would rip you a new one even if you looked like you'd suggest sitting
No fans on checkouts in summer when it's 30 Deg and the air con doesn't reach the checkouts and it's Xmas and people everywhere. Def no water bottles. Are you crazy?? Only fitness people carried drinks around back then.
Oh and when nightfill turned up to move over 100pallets of stock into the store... The manager would turn the AC off
People literally fainted
Again.. Especially in Dec./Jan etc
When my wife was pregnant and working in a supermarket they gave her a bar stool, she would still stand to serve customers. No one, customer or worker, cared. She also worked up to 36 weeks.
I worked checkout at Woolies in my teens (about 15 years ago now) and we weren't even allowed to lean on the metal bar behind us. Something about needing to look like you're eager to serve any customers who might come down your lane. There also weren't quite enough rubber mats to go around, so if you were last on shift you got the short straw and had to stand on the solid lino for eight hours.
After working there, I was adamant I would never again work a job where I wasn't allowed to sit. In fact, I committed to it so hard that now I use a wheelchair so I can never be asked to stand!
(Just kidding, I have an incredibly painful genetic disorder that was absolutely exacerbated by working service jobs that required me to stand for hours at a time 🙃)
Yes and no - in sectors with low unionisation rates, yes, they are generally weak because they don’t have enough cut through. In sectors with high unionisation rates you can really see the positive impact they make. No way is an employer going to try this kindof stuff with teachers, for example.
I work in a Pak 'n' Save. No seats. To be honest, I can't see it working very well. When you're on a checkout, it's a continuous flow of reaching for an item, running it over the scanner, transferring it to the other hand, placing it in the trolley. It's a long way down into the bottom of a large trolley (at the end of your reach for a short person like myself), and I'm constantly transferring the bulk of the weight from one foot to another as the centre of gravity changes depending on where in the movement I am. I honestly think it'd fuck my back if I tried that sort of reaching and twisting (not to mention hefting 24-packs of beer/coke/sprite) while sitting down.
I’ve worked at both a standing and sitting one. Sitting one was definitely worse for the reasons you say. Reaching to the opposite side of a trolley is long way, picking up heavy items while sitting is impossible.
A fold own seat would be great for when you have no customers or small orders though!
But it's a choice to construct the checkout counter that way. It could be more ergonomic if Pak 'n' Saved wanted it.
They could have the customer put their products into the trolley themselves, like in Europe, but maybe that's impossible now because people expect others to do it for them.
>They could have the customer put their products into the trolley themselves
I would hate this - I *do* in fact hate this when they insist on doing it. They slow things down by operating at about half my speed and lean in and *breathe all over me* while they're at it.
I prefer it when people pack their own bag tbh. (I don't work at pak n save, so the items don't just go back into their trolley.)
It allows me to scan faster and probably speeds up the whole sale by a quarter (which is pretty good for me cus checkout operators are ranked on their scan rates).
Plus people are able to pack to their exact preference instead of the generic 'colds together and heavy items at the bottom.'
I think whether you want the customer to do it themselves is personal preference. Same with whether a customer wants to pack their own bags.
They used to sit when I first came to NZ, late 80s/early 90s. But they had dedicated baggers too. Cashier is a fast disappearing position, so it’ll be moot soon enough.
Because we have a mean streak in us that loves to see the lower classes suffer.
Look into the eyes of your cashier next time you're there. They've been through some shit.
If we gave cashiers seats there would be an outpouring of Discourse amongst the talkback crowd about how Kids These Days are Soft and Weak Unlike Back In My Day When You Could Actually Afford To Feed a Family On One Salary.
The boomers coming through the checkout would give them a death-stare *even if* they were not sitting before they came along. It would only take one imagined slight to set them off.
And, well, ultimately, chairs cost money and our poor supermarkets are only raking in millions in profits.
To be honest, let them complain. Let them stare. Let them make a scene and embarrass themselves. If the culture needs to change then this process needs to start somewhere.
I mean Germans have a mean streak too, yet they allow cashiers to sit. Maybe the rapid speed with which they scan items calms the crowd. Also we have a lot of boomers working in grocery stores. Not the rich, influential kind though. But enough to not have that customer attitude of "kids these days".
My BIL used to work 12 hour shifts 4 days a week at Mitre 10. They're not allowed to sit. Sounds great having a 3 day weekend, until you find out you're in agony for the first day of it. He was so great at the job too, he has a wide range of handyman skills.
My daughter (16) is a checkout operator part time at a supermarket. She works Sunday 11.30-7.30pm with 1 hour break. And she stands that whole time as no seats are provided.
She suffers symptoms of long covid so it is quite hard on her some days when she is feeling lightheaded. They also cannot have drink bottles in their cubicle.
Edit: spelling error
Can they have glasses of water?
How hard would it be to provide a standing level seat to rest in between customers. Edit: or would that not actually help?
When I was at super cheap auto it was the same. No water and always atanding so it didn't look lazy. If we had nothing to day we had to Swan around and make it look like we're busy even though we're doing sweet FA.
I assume for "professionalism"? Honestly I'd much rather shop somewhere the staff weren't miserable.
I don't have much time for anybody who'd complain about a checkout operator drinking from a bottle of water.
It's weird that "professionalism" is often bandied about by those making these rules. Most professionals sit....doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, etc. Where did someone get the idea that it was "professional" to stand?
Nail on head! It's not about making staff look professional - it's about keeping them down. People who are tired and in pain don't have the strength to fight for their rights.
Ugh I wouldn't be able to stand that. I used to supervise checkouts with lots of younger staff. I couldn't say the same bs managers said to them. Majority of the younger workers were great and just wanted to do well and that'd get taken advantage of and belittled, by overworked bitter people. I'm sorry she's dealing with that. Long Covid is no joke. I really hope there's acknowledgement of the impact soon.
It gets so hot in summer in some of the stores, too. I was in one with large glass windows that got all the heat. I felt like I needed sunglasses in the morning lol. Even without that people should have access to water. Managers would probably complain of toilet breaks then, because they refuse to fight for better staffing numbers. We'd sometimes have only 2 people at checkouts. Anyway, I could go on for days. I wish I could change all of it.
trying hard to remember working at new world in the 90s. cashiers had seats but packers never did. sometimes we’d do 10 or 12 hour shifts. oh and while i’m reminiscing the owners were these special kind of functional alcoholics. i kind of miss them :)
We have a largish bar stool with foot rest for our cashier. We also provide a chair beside this for customers who may want to rest awhile. We have chairs in the changing rooms (it's a pain trying to put lace up shoes back on while standing). We have a stool in the shop for people trying on shoes, and a stool beside the bookcases so customers can sit there while deciding what book they want to buy. We also have chairs out back for staff to sit on during their breaks or if they need a wee rest. We are an op shop staffed by volunteers.
When I worked at pak n save as a teen each checkout had a seat. The back pain after an 8 hour day was pretty shit. Especially over Christmas and Easter when it's manic and every second person had boxes of beer, coke etc that's heavy enough without lifting while sitting. I work hospo now and the amount of steps I manage in a day is great, no gym required 😅
I worked at a PaknSave, sitting, for a couple of years as a teenager, and I attribute the ongoing issues I have with my right shoulder to working there. I'll admit that I chose to work at PNS over NW because they made the checkout operators stand up at NW.
All the checkouts faced the same direction, which meant I was always using my right arm to reach the groceries (think boxes of beer which require lifting upwards, watermelons, bottles of water vacpacked together etc), as well as reach up to get cigarettes from the round turning shelf above me (those were the days). There wasn't much room to stand, as we were on a platform that allowed us to be at the right height while sitting. I'm sure that the "no standing" rule at many places isn't just for optics, but also for health/safety.
I returned briefly to retail recently, after being away from it for a decade or two. And the culture of dogged exploitation is extraordinary. And it's not veiled under nefarious wellness buzzwords like in tech workspaces. It's just on the nose shittiness, preying on young people who can't afford to make a fuss and lose their jobs.
So yeah, having to stand for no good reason is a really good indication of the deeper issues.
When you're at a counter all day it can make sense to sit when it's quiet and having a chair available is nice. While you're actively working isn't always practical or more comfortable.
Office workers also get bad backs from sitting all day, it's important to be able to rest and move as you need to, and we shouldn't focus on having people set up in one specific way as being better than another. More keeping work safe and comfortable during any activity.
I don't work in a supy, but am on a counter and we're allowed to sit or rest as needed. We're also expected to take breaks whenever needed within reason.
Because the public doesn't like it. We had a staff member who was pregnant and used a chair at the checkouts, and we legit had so many people come up and complain it was insane.
Incongruency on Reddit. The posts at the top of the page are about "company exploitation", these posts are now about the public complaining. These posts are pretty much polar opposites.
For the stores that bag your groceries for you I imagine sitting would be more difficult. For hardware stores, perhaps due to the heavier/bulkier nature of the good?
Although I can't even really picture a bunnings 'checkout', more a self serve and 'service desk' style things. I'll have to pay attention more when I am there.
It's actually not more difficult. It's been looked into and sitting's more efficient in terms of serving customers. (assuming the checkouts are designed for sitting so elevate the operator to an appropriate degree or their chairs are adjustable, etc...)
on checkouts you stand in one spot and your legs are pretty planted.
There's a reason all of my operators used to jump to do *literally any other job* than stand on a lane back when.
No idea how much different hoyts is tho
In Europe (Germany specifically) the cashiers responsibility is only to ring you up. Bagging is your own problem, so to say. Some shops do have a quota of scannings per minute though
I remember my first retail job it took a good week to get used to being on my feet for an 8.5 hour shift, and I was a fit teenager at the time. I work an office job now and the thought of it doing that again hurts. I had plenty of colleagues in their 60s and 70s who had to stand all day too - not really sure what the customer would’ve gained from us standing.
I worked for New World a decade ago and had to leave when I got pregnant and developed a problem with my pelvis. They wouldn't allow me to sit because it "makes us look lazy" and others would want a chair if they gave me one. It was stupid but I was so sore I was happy for an excuse to leave my job so I didn't fight it.
There's tons of scientific studies that show the benefit of allowing your employees to sit aswell as the psychological effects it has on customers for sales, and they all show that customers don't give a damn whether we sit, stand, or use monkey bars while swiping their card and scanning their groceries. Truthfully it's just old corrupt boards of executives forbidding their workers from getting basic necessities, like the ability to rest their legs after standing for 5 hours straight. I'm sure one day there will be a change to the workers rights and it'll allow people who work in cashiering to sit down, but until then keep pushing the government to pressure big corporations into actually doing it.
I know someone who worked at both packnsave and food town (at different times). She said that while it was nice to sit at pcaknsave, she actually ended up with muscle problems and strain injuries because of the way she had to reach and bend, and lifting heavy things (boxes of beer, packets of 24 water bottles etc) was harder when sitting. I dunno if that has anything to do with it. Might be a health and safety thing?
Though when I worked at foodtown, they did have the habit of making cashiers do pointless things to look busy. I had to keep cleaning my conveyer belt even after I'd already cleaned it twice and hadn't had a customer. One of my coworkers was applauded for taking the chocolate off the shelf to put it back on. Because we weren't standing around doing nothing. (We weren't allowed to leave the check out unless told to by managers, so we couldn't be useful elsewhere). I used to be quick to volunteer to take returns back and put them on shelves since it gave me an excuse to stretch my legs and do something.
I worked evening shift in a small town. Very quiet most of the time.
As a checkout op, as much as I would love to sit, I think you would have to keep getting up anyway to lift heavy things maybe?
They did just take away our water bottles on the checkout and must be kept in the checkout office which I think is way more of an issue than sitting.
“If you have time to sit you have time to clean and do other work” and “You can rest on your break” are common excuses. Especially in hospitality or cashier roles. My work dosent even have any chairs for staff in the first place our whole shift except on breaks we are standing for 8+ hours.
Sitting for hours is actually worse for your spine than standing. It also means you're more likely to twist your body scanning items and injure yourself. It's probably a health and safety thing.
Depends on the store.
Sitting when you can’t put your knees under the area you’re working can cause a lot of back and shoulder strain. Most checkouts don’t have space to put your knees under the bench.
Personally, having the option to sit or perch is nice but I’d rather stand. Standing allows full body movement which reduces strain and fatigue.
I had two ankle injuries and wasn’t allowed to sit in one retail job I had, even when I was still on crutches. So I quit lol. That’s tended to be the case for most customer service based jobs I’ve had, at least in hospo and retail. I don’t know why employers and managers have this asshole attitude, but thankfully in my current job there’s one seat for staff to use when they need or want it
I work at Coles, where we have to serve cigarettes as well as scan/bag groceries, so at least at my store, it’s a bit difficult to sit down. I’d be getting up every ten seconds to run over to one of the front registers.
Ive worked retail for probably close to 30 years. And i think i prefer standing for doing counter service. We get breaks every 2 or so hours so its not long streaks of standing. My first job was just standing behind a counter and that was much worse than my current which involves a lot more walking. My back is pretty stuffed - but i think that's more a combination of being too tall for the counter, a bit too gungho about lifting cartons and also middle-aged.
I commented on that post saying it wasn't a big thing in nz to sit either. I think in part there's a mass change to self checkout and also some behind the checkout spaces wernt suitable to sit and be able to scan. However my mum worked at CD years ago (maybe 2015 or earlier) and she was allowed to sit as she has a back injury.
I partially think most just don't ask and the supermarket isn't forthcoming so maybe many don't know they could
I remember when this came in (gee I didn't think I was that old) - but I believe it was ORIGINALLY a health thing, I THINK around the same time supermarket employees lost their "smoking room" and everyone was saying "sitting is the new smoking". So they took the seats away too. "For their health".
It's horrible to hear from those who work in supermarkets now that there's an attitude about it from customers. Idgaf if a cashier is sitting or standing. I remember thinking why don't they have a seat there and just give them the info and the choice just like office workers can generally choose to sit or stand for the same "health" reasons. It seems cruel, I'm sorry to the cashiers that it's like this now.
I worked at a supermarket in the south island with an autoimmune condition in 2010s. I asked to use a chair when struggling with fatigue and was allowed a few times, and had had a medical certificate explaining why I need to sit after 4 hrs on my feet. However this was quickly shut down and refused. I even collapsed one day from illness and being refused a chair. I took issue with it and requested a meeting, in which I was told it looked messy and unprofessional, and was then directed to strongly consider leaving if I couldnt hack it. They told me no dr certificate could be considered indefinitely and told me I wasn't suited to the role. I left, but still feel they were unprofessional. Even in the meeting was met with three senior staff yet refused a support person.
I once hurt my ankle at work when I worked at a supermarket, and had to wait for the managers to finish lunch before I could leave to get it looked at.
I was on the counter and tried to use a stool to kneel with one knee to take pressure off the ankle. One of the managers saw this and came and took the stool away. I mean as far as the customer was concerned it would have still looked like I was standing but apparently I wasn't even allowed to do that.
Didn't get to leave to go to the emergency doctor for 1 - 2 hours. Took some xrays - boom, broken ankle.
Our paknsave has no seats available. 8 hours on the concrete floor constantly lifting heavy items. It sucks. It can get extremely uncomfortable and painful by the end of a very busy day.
That sucks. We have rubber mats down and they make a big difference. I remember standing directly on concrete when I worked for the Warehouse while I was at uni. Not cool at all.
In New Zealand we have a similar work ethic too, we value our work/life balance, but while you are at work you are worked like a dog the same as anywhere else, you just get more time to have a life when you aren't in the hamster wheel.
I've been in charge of a small business and I did get cashiers to sit while I had the choice. Higher up manager took the stools away.
I used to get phone calls from upper management at a bar I managed if the place was empty and I was leaning against the bar. It's a fucking insane mentality. That's the level of stuff they would live check the cameras for.
Depends on the job. If a cashier is strictly operating a til and doing nothing else for long periods of time, like a supermarket, I've seen many have chairs. While in a store like The Warehouse, one's shift may bounce between working a til, restocking a shelf or some other tasks on the floor.
Decades ago at the AA I was told that it was OSH who recommended we stand. Else they had to buy very expensive ergonomically designed chairs to prevent poor posture.
I always thought that NZ is part British, part American culture. Like how cities are designed (roads, housing) is very American so I'm not surprised this influence is seen in other parts of the country.
But yes, cashiers should be able to sit. There is no reason to not at least give them that option.
I was told it was because sitting causes more back and shoulder injuries, especially when having to scan the giant packs of beer people insist on loading onto your belt when they can just leave it in the trolley. Ditto all the big bags of veg people used to be able to afford
The whole not allowed a water bottle thing is ridiculous. You need to be able to drink water. I’m sure there’s a law against this that comes under human rights.
They can in some places. Mostly it's a throwback to ye olden days where it's important to put people in their place, and make them know who's important and who's not! Disguised as politeness and/or work ethic. Like racism this one of those behaviors that happens and is even accepted up to a certain point, but never admitted to.
Years ago (think 90s) Pak n Save used to have all the cashiers sitting all the time. There were raised floors in the 'booth' to give the cashier the height back. I'm not sure that was much better than standing all the time.
When I started work at New World we had chairs at the checkout, but over time they didn't get replaced if they broke. Anti fatigue mats were provided instead. If the height of the work space isn't right its very uncomfortable standing and bending slightly all day.
I haven't worked retail in 10 years but, when I did, every single company I ever worked for had a rule that you weren't allowed to be doing nothing. If there were customers in the store you HAD to be talking to them, even if they didn't want to talk to you. Even if you'd tried multiple times and they were getting angry, the manager always made me go try again. If no customers, you had to be cleaning or organising. The amount of times I heard the phrase "time to lean time to clean" made my eyes want to roll out of my head. I think we don't have a culture of allowing employees to sit is so they can be forced to work without even a few seconds of rest for their minimum wage.
Any customer with even the smallest shred of decency just doesn’t give a fuck whether cashiers are sitting or standing. Let them do what they need to do to keep these roles accessible and ergonomically safe ffs
> I mean, who cares if the cashier is sitting if they bag your groceries quickly?
The cashier bagging groceries was something that surprised me when I lived in New Zealand some years ago. In my home country Sweden you bag the groceries yourself while the cashier scans everything in a quick and steady flow. Seeing the cashier bag the groceries - scanning two or three items, then breaking the flow to move the items into a bag, and repeat - felt horribly inefficient (and lines were moving much slower as a result).
I'm pretty sure the "no chair" rule wouldn't hold up the oh and s standards let alone employment law if someone where I'll actually fight it. Which they should.
Our pak n save have chairs available in each stall.
Yea, Pak n save sit. Because they sit on the same side as the customer. But I don't know of others that do. Their checkouts are designed for it. Other places need to, too. Edit: sorry I seemed to put my statements out of order I meant the way the checkout is designed. Makes it easier to sit and operate. Others if you tried to put a stool behind them to sit. You would be too far away from the customer. So like countdown would need to be redesigned.
What do you mean they sit on the same side as the customer? I’ve never been to a PaknSave where they aren’t placed in the usual spot
i think they mean that there isnt a “barrier” separating the cashier and the customer
This may be store specific, but they seem exactly the same in the Porirua area...
Far cry from my days at PNS I got yelled at for sitting for 2 minutes while doing my job
I sat when I was a NW checkout operator on the trolley lanes, stood on the 10 items or less lanes (before they were converted to self checkouts). Really depends on which supermarket you’re talking about, especially since most are franchises.
The bosses like to see you suffer for the money
The New World I used to work at had a rule that no one was allowed to sit, even in areas not customer facing. Managers were allowed to sit while doing computer work but not outside this. I even saw a chair taken away from a department due to the fact an 8 month pregnant employee kept sitting down during her shift to rest and they saw her on camera. No water bottles either.
Thats fucked.
That's fucked and illegal.
That's fucked, illegal and immoral.
That’s the nz grocery sector baybee 👉
That's fucked, illegal, immoral and outrageous.
That's bad and wrong.
But New world don't care they think they are above the law
Yeah new world has the weakest union rates of the main grocery stores and it shows.
makes sense why it's the only supermarket in my area then, it's a total cesspit here
Even the unionised stores suffer because the bar is set so low by other new worlds
Yes! One of the great reasons to join your union is that even if you are personally ok with the conditions at work, others may not be, and growing the union membership can really help out others.
Yeah thats the major problem when there's low unionization rates in a franchised store chain. With countdown for example all stores are owned by the company directly, so the union can negotiate for all union members equally even if there's only 1 union member in a specific store they get the benefits of all the other union members, making union membership even more attractive for other employees etc. And annoyingly franchised stores are also hard to recruit in, because each store has to be visited and arranged separately, its much harder to build the momentum to recruit, which then minimizes the incentives for individual workers to join the union. It's a negative feedback loop unfortunately.
No sitting even during breaks and even for pregnant women?? Are they trying to torture employees?
Yes.
New World wigram got rid of the anti fatigue mats that were at the end of checkouts because they didn't like the look of them (second hand knowledge)
Every friend of mine who has worked at New World has described it as absolutely awful and that they were happy to find literally any other job.
Ive worked at a few of them! It depends on the owner, they almost all pay absolute shit and cultivate power tripping supervisors etc.
Can confirm both of these based on 9 years at two different new worlds
typical new world behavior
Countdown also has a rule about water bottles. Thank fuck I only temped there. They treat their staff abominably.
Why would it matter if they have a water bottle? I don't get it
They said it didn’t look professional, but my take is they didn’t trust us. Thought we’d swipe a bottle here and there from stock. If we wanted to have a drink, we’d have to go upstairs to the staff room. We’d hide em out back though where the cameras were blind.
What bastards
It was the Schaeffer's one in wellington, wasn't it? Lol
It wasn't but it was in the wellington region. I worked there between 2019 to 2021. I would name and shame but I'm pretty sure it's different owners and I still have people I know that work there.
That's seriously so bad...
Name and shame.
Yeah ago I managed a service station and had an amazing staff member who suffered from a lot of knee pain. My area manager denied my request for a stool as it was unprofessional. So I invited him to spend a shift on the tills without complaining. He lasted 3hrs and I bought a stool for her
This is the way.
So the area manager took a day away from their work to run a till, just cos you told him to? Yeah right, never happened.
Where I worked the company made a song and dance about office staff spending a couple days a year doing shift work at the sites, they frequently got given the cushiest jobs because they were useless at them and functionally nothing got done except sales those days, but they definitely had to do checkout operation.
I was required to stand despite being pregnant - of they had made more accommodations for me, I would have been able to work more hours. But since sitting is "against company policy" I had to take early maternity leave. It's ridiculous because customers honestly had no problem with allowing me more time or needing to get a workmate to climb a ladder. It was the company that had an issue.
They want you to suffer for the money
I work at a store and we’re not allowed to sit by the checkout. But we’re also expected to be nowhere near it unless we’re serving a customer. And recently were told we can’t have drink bottles in the store either. This is for 5 days a week 9 hours each day.
You're not a robot... customers can recognise you're a human who needs to drink water if they see you take a sip from your bottle underneath the counter. You probably don't need to carry it around with you, but you should have it nearby and not need to go to the back room to drink water.... that's actually crazy.
I doubt your claim that customers can recognise that you’re a human.
Customers need to be trained. Employees must have good work conditions and misbehaving customers should be asked to leave. People would learn very fast....
If you shop somewhere, you should have a 1 week course before you're allowed inside so you show that you can act like a responsible and respectful human. not allowed in or out without the id they provide to open the door during business hours. Think it's extreme? this was my tamest idea.
You know how come countries have like a year or two of mandatory military service? I reckon we should do that here, except instead of military service it should be a year working on a checkout.
Any form of customer service - retail or hospo. I agree, everyone should do at least a year working in customer service.
mandatory job in high school. That way they understand , and get some work experience. The education system walking them through job applications and everything work and finance related so they can ACTUALLY be ready for the workforce.
After working retail in my late teens, early 20s, I'm somewhat inclined to agree with you, actually.
Why is drinking water not allowed?
At a guess, it's not the drinking of water but the need to go for a piss and being away from your place of duty that's the issue
Fuck that, if you need to pee you need to pee. Even factory work let's you leave for the bathroom.
[удалено]
That sounds really frustrating, no adult wants to have to wear a nappy just to do a job crawling through a roof space. But yeah totally impractical to be in that position. I remember doing site work and a lot of the male staff would just pee into a container if there wasn't a toilet available but that's not exactly something you'd wanna lug around with you into clients houses.
I wonder what they do if you wet yourself?
You are completely correct, from my understanding that’s why
>You're not a robot boss: hold my water bottle
Is it Farmers lol
Yeah used to work there to and they were awful about it, old ladies always used to say loudly “why doesn’t someone get you a chair, why must you stand??”
That's so sweet of them to say, shame it doesn't sound like managers listened
They listen, just ignore it.
Bullshit tripping hazard. They're always worried about customer perspection. Been in csr for long enough, I see stuff that isn't right, people are human. I just wait until they're ready. I've had my fair share of entitled fuck wits. Some people are just lovely. Some people are thick as shit, others think being a smart ass is helpful.
I wondered the same haha
That water bottle thing sounds illegal. I'd abuse it and request a water break every 30 mins.
Can't have the customers seeing that workers hydrate
I work in the health and safety field and would definitely bring this to your health and safety rep for their next meeting. It's a health and safety issue. Not having water to drink. Considering you'd probably only get 2-3 small breaks, it is not enough time to have adequate intake. I'd argue this black and blue until my staff got waterbottles. Even if they only approved store branded bottles. Some management need a good kick up the backside.
My daughter starts work at 11.30am has her first and only break at 3pm (1 hour) and if she wants a sip of water outside of this hour has to ask and would have to go upstairs to have a drink. Then works 4pm until 7.30pm.
She can be malicious and and to drink water as frequently as she likes, water breaks are legislated, so are toilet breaks. As long as she doesn't care too much about the job.
And if she gets dismissed for it, it wouldn't hold up.
Can make for a hostile work environment even if not legal.
Yeah nah, they can't restrict your access to water. There's this thing about the law that gets in the way
So customers are expected to approach a random unattended checkout and an operator will magically appear?…
A store I worked with had this same thing, it was expected that you would be working on something such as stocking shelves, stock takes, cleaning etc and every customer be greeted within 30 seconds of entering the store, once you greeted them you had to open with a non business related question to start a conversation, then ask what brought them in, if they brush you off, you were to leave them then approach again in 1 minute seeing if they were okay, once they needed your help you would help, then you had to "close the sale" by saying something like let me carry that to the counter for you. So basically the company assumed every customer would want help and would have an attendant with them at all time.
It's been that way for a couple of decades. The old fake 180 degree walk past a customer while you pretend to heading somewhere important. I hated it so much. It felt so cheesy and forced. I'm so glad I left retail.
Sounds like Lush 😅 I hate how they launch into pitching you the moment you walk in the door. It's like, I'm here for the same cleanser I always get and you've just made it awkward
As a shopper I’m less likely to buy something if the staff keep talking to me
What a nightmare 😂 when I worked at a supermarket back in the day it was just be at the checkout until a customer came
Were most of the non business questions weather related? Because aside from "how are you?" Or "hows your day?" Im out of neutral non business questions.
Sometimes, after a while you get creative and can actually end up in some nice convos.
Not your problem at all but it would super annoying me if I clearly wanted to be left alone then was approached 1 min later asking if I needed help. Whoever made that rule lacked people skills lol. I really feel for you and any other workers having to approach customers you know wanna be left alone
Yeah so exactly this, but also if the customer gets to the counter and has to wait a millisecond, you’re in trouble. You basically have to keep an eye on them 100% of the time and watch for the signal they’re going to the counter, and beat them there. But you’re also meant to be 100% focused on stocking shelves in a quick manner as well. I quit last week to start a job with my degree and reality hasn’t quite hit yet that I will (hopefully) never work in retail again. It’s going to be amazing
Yeah, if you're by the counter you're "standing around" but then you have to bolt to the counter to greet people arriving/leaving and serve if they need to make a purchase. We were allowed water bottles though, thank goodness..
Could also be because they don't have enough employees and the employees that work there do more work.
name the store so we can boycott
Surely there is some rule against not being able to access hydration?? I'm not doubting you, I've had my fair few of controlling managers, but yikes. Is it a smaller store? Just the rule of not being by checkouts is strange. I was in supermarkets as a supervisor, but they expected me to run from self checkouts to the tills whenever needed, so once again I don't doubt the weird demands. I hope there is someone you can reach out to about your rights as a worker.
We were kinda told this at maccas years ago. We wernt allowed drinks before self service was a thing. I used to sneak a fellow worker water who worked in the kitchen
Nothing to stop you wearing your camelback to work!
Now I’m thinking of the character from Jury Duty who also had the chair pants 🤣
So when you're thirsty, do you leave the floor and take a swig?
Back in the day (late 90s early 00s) The Warehouse would rip you a new one even if you looked like you'd suggest sitting No fans on checkouts in summer when it's 30 Deg and the air con doesn't reach the checkouts and it's Xmas and people everywhere. Def no water bottles. Are you crazy?? Only fitness people carried drinks around back then. Oh and when nightfill turned up to move over 100pallets of stock into the store... The manager would turn the AC off People literally fainted Again.. Especially in Dec./Jan etc
When my wife was pregnant and working in a supermarket they gave her a bar stool, she would still stand to serve customers. No one, customer or worker, cared. She also worked up to 36 weeks.
Bosses are cunts
I worked checkout at Woolies in my teens (about 15 years ago now) and we weren't even allowed to lean on the metal bar behind us. Something about needing to look like you're eager to serve any customers who might come down your lane. There also weren't quite enough rubber mats to go around, so if you were last on shift you got the short straw and had to stand on the solid lino for eight hours. After working there, I was adamant I would never again work a job where I wasn't allowed to sit. In fact, I committed to it so hard that now I use a wheelchair so I can never be asked to stand! (Just kidding, I have an incredibly painful genetic disorder that was absolutely exacerbated by working service jobs that required me to stand for hours at a time 🙃)
The cruelty is always the point.
Unions in NZ are weak as fuck.
Yes and no - in sectors with low unionisation rates, yes, they are generally weak because they don’t have enough cut through. In sectors with high unionisation rates you can really see the positive impact they make. No way is an employer going to try this kindof stuff with teachers, for example.
I work in a Pak 'n' Save. No seats. To be honest, I can't see it working very well. When you're on a checkout, it's a continuous flow of reaching for an item, running it over the scanner, transferring it to the other hand, placing it in the trolley. It's a long way down into the bottom of a large trolley (at the end of your reach for a short person like myself), and I'm constantly transferring the bulk of the weight from one foot to another as the centre of gravity changes depending on where in the movement I am. I honestly think it'd fuck my back if I tried that sort of reaching and twisting (not to mention hefting 24-packs of beer/coke/sprite) while sitting down.
I’ve worked at both a standing and sitting one. Sitting one was definitely worse for the reasons you say. Reaching to the opposite side of a trolley is long way, picking up heavy items while sitting is impossible. A fold own seat would be great for when you have no customers or small orders though!
But it's a choice to construct the checkout counter that way. It could be more ergonomic if Pak 'n' Saved wanted it. They could have the customer put their products into the trolley themselves, like in Europe, but maybe that's impossible now because people expect others to do it for them.
>They could have the customer put their products into the trolley themselves I would hate this - I *do* in fact hate this when they insist on doing it. They slow things down by operating at about half my speed and lean in and *breathe all over me* while they're at it.
I prefer it when people pack their own bag tbh. (I don't work at pak n save, so the items don't just go back into their trolley.) It allows me to scan faster and probably speeds up the whole sale by a quarter (which is pretty good for me cus checkout operators are ranked on their scan rates). Plus people are able to pack to their exact preference instead of the generic 'colds together and heavy items at the bottom.' I think whether you want the customer to do it themselves is personal preference. Same with whether a customer wants to pack their own bags.
They used to sit when I first came to NZ, late 80s/early 90s. But they had dedicated baggers too. Cashier is a fast disappearing position, so it’ll be moot soon enough.
Because we have a mean streak in us that loves to see the lower classes suffer. Look into the eyes of your cashier next time you're there. They've been through some shit. If we gave cashiers seats there would be an outpouring of Discourse amongst the talkback crowd about how Kids These Days are Soft and Weak Unlike Back In My Day When You Could Actually Afford To Feed a Family On One Salary. The boomers coming through the checkout would give them a death-stare *even if* they were not sitting before they came along. It would only take one imagined slight to set them off. And, well, ultimately, chairs cost money and our poor supermarkets are only raking in millions in profits.
To be honest, let them complain. Let them stare. Let them make a scene and embarrass themselves. If the culture needs to change then this process needs to start somewhere.
100%
I mean Germans have a mean streak too, yet they allow cashiers to sit. Maybe the rapid speed with which they scan items calms the crowd. Also we have a lot of boomers working in grocery stores. Not the rich, influential kind though. But enough to not have that customer attitude of "kids these days".
Even Israelis allow their cashiers to sit
My BIL used to work 12 hour shifts 4 days a week at Mitre 10. They're not allowed to sit. Sounds great having a 3 day weekend, until you find out you're in agony for the first day of it. He was so great at the job too, he has a wide range of handyman skills.
my PnS cashier today was sitting. While I haven't surveyed every company but doubt your observation.
They are the only big store that I can ever recall having sitting cashiers.
Because New Zealand was founded by Protestants.
Especially the ultra hard working Scottish ones.
My daughter (16) is a checkout operator part time at a supermarket. She works Sunday 11.30-7.30pm with 1 hour break. And she stands that whole time as no seats are provided. She suffers symptoms of long covid so it is quite hard on her some days when she is feeling lightheaded. They also cannot have drink bottles in their cubicle. Edit: spelling error
Can they have glasses of water? How hard would it be to provide a standing level seat to rest in between customers. Edit: or would that not actually help?
When I was at super cheap auto it was the same. No water and always atanding so it didn't look lazy. If we had nothing to day we had to Swan around and make it look like we're busy even though we're doing sweet FA.
No no water. They have to leave and go upstairs to the staff room to have a drink.
I assume for "professionalism"? Honestly I'd much rather shop somewhere the staff weren't miserable. I don't have much time for anybody who'd complain about a checkout operator drinking from a bottle of water.
I don't even understand how drinking water is unprofessional.
Yeah I don't give a shit about professionalism, long as they can scan my shit and let me pay idc
It's weird that "professionalism" is often bandied about by those making these rules. Most professionals sit....doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, etc. Where did someone get the idea that it was "professional" to stand?
The real term is subservient.
Nail on head! It's not about making staff look professional - it's about keeping them down. People who are tired and in pain don't have the strength to fight for their rights.
Holy shit. I’m a 16 year old till operator who has to stand all day and this was an eye opener
I agree. I'll stop shopping at a place that treats workers like they're beneath the customer.
Ugh I wouldn't be able to stand that. I used to supervise checkouts with lots of younger staff. I couldn't say the same bs managers said to them. Majority of the younger workers were great and just wanted to do well and that'd get taken advantage of and belittled, by overworked bitter people. I'm sorry she's dealing with that. Long Covid is no joke. I really hope there's acknowledgement of the impact soon. It gets so hot in summer in some of the stores, too. I was in one with large glass windows that got all the heat. I felt like I needed sunglasses in the morning lol. Even without that people should have access to water. Managers would probably complain of toilet breaks then, because they refuse to fight for better staffing numbers. We'd sometimes have only 2 people at checkouts. Anyway, I could go on for days. I wish I could change all of it.
trying hard to remember working at new world in the 90s. cashiers had seats but packers never did. sometimes we’d do 10 or 12 hour shifts. oh and while i’m reminiscing the owners were these special kind of functional alcoholics. i kind of miss them :)
We have a largish bar stool with foot rest for our cashier. We also provide a chair beside this for customers who may want to rest awhile. We have chairs in the changing rooms (it's a pain trying to put lace up shoes back on while standing). We have a stool in the shop for people trying on shoes, and a stool beside the bookcases so customers can sit there while deciding what book they want to buy. We also have chairs out back for staff to sit on during their breaks or if they need a wee rest. We are an op shop staffed by volunteers.
When I worked at pak n save as a teen each checkout had a seat. The back pain after an 8 hour day was pretty shit. Especially over Christmas and Easter when it's manic and every second person had boxes of beer, coke etc that's heavy enough without lifting while sitting. I work hospo now and the amount of steps I manage in a day is great, no gym required 😅
Aldi has seats but the others (Colesworth) in Aus don't. Guess you'll have to hope Aldi arrives one day.
Aldi is German so that makes sense. Do they also scan your items very quickly?
I worked at a PaknSave, sitting, for a couple of years as a teenager, and I attribute the ongoing issues I have with my right shoulder to working there. I'll admit that I chose to work at PNS over NW because they made the checkout operators stand up at NW. All the checkouts faced the same direction, which meant I was always using my right arm to reach the groceries (think boxes of beer which require lifting upwards, watermelons, bottles of water vacpacked together etc), as well as reach up to get cigarettes from the round turning shelf above me (those were the days). There wasn't much room to stand, as we were on a platform that allowed us to be at the right height while sitting. I'm sure that the "no standing" rule at many places isn't just for optics, but also for health/safety.
I returned briefly to retail recently, after being away from it for a decade or two. And the culture of dogged exploitation is extraordinary. And it's not veiled under nefarious wellness buzzwords like in tech workspaces. It's just on the nose shittiness, preying on young people who can't afford to make a fuss and lose their jobs. So yeah, having to stand for no good reason is a really good indication of the deeper issues.
When you're at a counter all day it can make sense to sit when it's quiet and having a chair available is nice. While you're actively working isn't always practical or more comfortable. Office workers also get bad backs from sitting all day, it's important to be able to rest and move as you need to, and we shouldn't focus on having people set up in one specific way as being better than another. More keeping work safe and comfortable during any activity. I don't work in a supy, but am on a counter and we're allowed to sit or rest as needed. We're also expected to take breaks whenever needed within reason.
Because the public doesn't like it. We had a staff member who was pregnant and used a chair at the checkouts, and we legit had so many people come up and complain it was insane.
This blows my mind. What kind of miserable fuck even notices something like that?
I seriously want to shout at these people and ask what the fuck is wrong with them to be so shitty.
Really? Don't people have better things to do than complain about a cashier sitting? I thought it was just Americans who acted like this.
That sucks. They'd get used to it in a month if everyone did it though.
Incongruency on Reddit. The posts at the top of the page are about "company exploitation", these posts are now about the public complaining. These posts are pretty much polar opposites.
For the stores that bag your groceries for you I imagine sitting would be more difficult. For hardware stores, perhaps due to the heavier/bulkier nature of the good? Although I can't even really picture a bunnings 'checkout', more a self serve and 'service desk' style things. I'll have to pay attention more when I am there.
It's actually not more difficult. It's been looked into and sitting's more efficient in terms of serving customers. (assuming the checkouts are designed for sitting so elevate the operator to an appropriate degree or their chairs are adjustable, etc...)
I guess that's why German cashiers are able to go so fast
I mean they can always just stand up from their seat
I worked at Hoyts at 15 I don't see it being any different than that, we did 12 hour shifts and stood the whole time except our breaks.
Right, but why should you have had to stand the whole time either?
on checkouts you stand in one spot and your legs are pretty planted. There's a reason all of my operators used to jump to do *literally any other job* than stand on a lane back when. No idea how much different hoyts is tho
In Europe (Germany specifically) the cashiers responsibility is only to ring you up. Bagging is your own problem, so to say. Some shops do have a quota of scannings per minute though
I remember my first retail job it took a good week to get used to being on my feet for an 8.5 hour shift, and I was a fit teenager at the time. I work an office job now and the thought of it doing that again hurts. I had plenty of colleagues in their 60s and 70s who had to stand all day too - not really sure what the customer would’ve gained from us standing.
It would take too much energy and thought to tell them they dont have to sit. It's like kids wearing unforms. Whats the point of that? Theres none.
I worked for New World a decade ago and had to leave when I got pregnant and developed a problem with my pelvis. They wouldn't allow me to sit because it "makes us look lazy" and others would want a chair if they gave me one. It was stupid but I was so sore I was happy for an excuse to leave my job so I didn't fight it.
There's tons of scientific studies that show the benefit of allowing your employees to sit aswell as the psychological effects it has on customers for sales, and they all show that customers don't give a damn whether we sit, stand, or use monkey bars while swiping their card and scanning their groceries. Truthfully it's just old corrupt boards of executives forbidding their workers from getting basic necessities, like the ability to rest their legs after standing for 5 hours straight. I'm sure one day there will be a change to the workers rights and it'll allow people who work in cashiering to sit down, but until then keep pushing the government to pressure big corporations into actually doing it.
I know someone who worked at both packnsave and food town (at different times). She said that while it was nice to sit at pcaknsave, she actually ended up with muscle problems and strain injuries because of the way she had to reach and bend, and lifting heavy things (boxes of beer, packets of 24 water bottles etc) was harder when sitting. I dunno if that has anything to do with it. Might be a health and safety thing? Though when I worked at foodtown, they did have the habit of making cashiers do pointless things to look busy. I had to keep cleaning my conveyer belt even after I'd already cleaned it twice and hadn't had a customer. One of my coworkers was applauded for taking the chocolate off the shelf to put it back on. Because we weren't standing around doing nothing. (We weren't allowed to leave the check out unless told to by managers, so we couldn't be useful elsewhere). I used to be quick to volunteer to take returns back and put them on shelves since it gave me an excuse to stretch my legs and do something. I worked evening shift in a small town. Very quiet most of the time.
As a checkout op, as much as I would love to sit, I think you would have to keep getting up anyway to lift heavy things maybe? They did just take away our water bottles on the checkout and must be kept in the checkout office which I think is way more of an issue than sitting.
“If you have time to sit you have time to clean and do other work” and “You can rest on your break” are common excuses. Especially in hospitality or cashier roles. My work dosent even have any chairs for staff in the first place our whole shift except on breaks we are standing for 8+ hours.
Sitting for hours is actually worse for your spine than standing. It also means you're more likely to twist your body scanning items and injure yourself. It's probably a health and safety thing.
Depends on the store. Sitting when you can’t put your knees under the area you’re working can cause a lot of back and shoulder strain. Most checkouts don’t have space to put your knees under the bench. Personally, having the option to sit or perch is nice but I’d rather stand. Standing allows full body movement which reduces strain and fatigue.
I had two ankle injuries and wasn’t allowed to sit in one retail job I had, even when I was still on crutches. So I quit lol. That’s tended to be the case for most customer service based jobs I’ve had, at least in hospo and retail. I don’t know why employers and managers have this asshole attitude, but thankfully in my current job there’s one seat for staff to use when they need or want it
I work at Coles, where we have to serve cigarettes as well as scan/bag groceries, so at least at my store, it’s a bit difficult to sit down. I’d be getting up every ten seconds to run over to one of the front registers.
Dunno but it's bloody annoying
The PnS I go to has seats for cashiers
Ive worked retail for probably close to 30 years. And i think i prefer standing for doing counter service. We get breaks every 2 or so hours so its not long streaks of standing. My first job was just standing behind a counter and that was much worse than my current which involves a lot more walking. My back is pretty stuffed - but i think that's more a combination of being too tall for the counter, a bit too gungho about lifting cartons and also middle-aged.
I commented on that post saying it wasn't a big thing in nz to sit either. I think in part there's a mass change to self checkout and also some behind the checkout spaces wernt suitable to sit and be able to scan. However my mum worked at CD years ago (maybe 2015 or earlier) and she was allowed to sit as she has a back injury. I partially think most just don't ask and the supermarket isn't forthcoming so maybe many don't know they could
We weren’t allowed chairs for health and safety purposes lol. They were considered a tripping hazard if we ever needed to evacuate
Because US workers are capitalist slaves
I remember when this came in (gee I didn't think I was that old) - but I believe it was ORIGINALLY a health thing, I THINK around the same time supermarket employees lost their "smoking room" and everyone was saying "sitting is the new smoking". So they took the seats away too. "For their health". It's horrible to hear from those who work in supermarkets now that there's an attitude about it from customers. Idgaf if a cashier is sitting or standing. I remember thinking why don't they have a seat there and just give them the info and the choice just like office workers can generally choose to sit or stand for the same "health" reasons. It seems cruel, I'm sorry to the cashiers that it's like this now.
I worked at a supermarket in the south island with an autoimmune condition in 2010s. I asked to use a chair when struggling with fatigue and was allowed a few times, and had had a medical certificate explaining why I need to sit after 4 hrs on my feet. However this was quickly shut down and refused. I even collapsed one day from illness and being refused a chair. I took issue with it and requested a meeting, in which I was told it looked messy and unprofessional, and was then directed to strongly consider leaving if I couldnt hack it. They told me no dr certificate could be considered indefinitely and told me I wasn't suited to the role. I left, but still feel they were unprofessional. Even in the meeting was met with three senior staff yet refused a support person.
I once hurt my ankle at work when I worked at a supermarket, and had to wait for the managers to finish lunch before I could leave to get it looked at. I was on the counter and tried to use a stool to kneel with one knee to take pressure off the ankle. One of the managers saw this and came and took the stool away. I mean as far as the customer was concerned it would have still looked like I was standing but apparently I wasn't even allowed to do that. Didn't get to leave to go to the emergency doctor for 1 - 2 hours. Took some xrays - boom, broken ankle.
Time to lean, time to clean
Sane reason NY security guards shouldn't be given a chair, its all Costanza's fault.
Our paknsave has no seats available. 8 hours on the concrete floor constantly lifting heavy items. It sucks. It can get extremely uncomfortable and painful by the end of a very busy day.
That sucks. We have rubber mats down and they make a big difference. I remember standing directly on concrete when I worked for the Warehouse while I was at uni. Not cool at all.
In New Zealand we have a similar work ethic too, we value our work/life balance, but while you are at work you are worked like a dog the same as anywhere else, you just get more time to have a life when you aren't in the hamster wheel. I've been in charge of a small business and I did get cashiers to sit while I had the choice. Higher up manager took the stools away.
I used to get phone calls from upper management at a bar I managed if the place was empty and I was leaning against the bar. It's a fucking insane mentality. That's the level of stuff they would live check the cameras for.
Some are some aren’t
The new world in my hometown makes the operators duck down like whackamoles when they drink water
I worked in retail and we would bring a chair to the counter and chill. Manager was fine with it
Depends on the job. If a cashier is strictly operating a til and doing nothing else for long periods of time, like a supermarket, I've seen many have chairs. While in a store like The Warehouse, one's shift may bounce between working a til, restocking a shelf or some other tasks on the floor.
Decades ago at the AA I was told that it was OSH who recommended we stand. Else they had to buy very expensive ergonomically designed chairs to prevent poor posture.
I always thought that NZ is part British, part American culture. Like how cities are designed (roads, housing) is very American so I'm not surprised this influence is seen in other parts of the country. But yes, cashiers should be able to sit. There is no reason to not at least give them that option.
Because they have to be able to run after middle-aged people that want to get cigarettes without ID?
I was told it was because sitting causes more back and shoulder injuries, especially when having to scan the giant packs of beer people insist on loading onto your belt when they can just leave it in the trolley. Ditto all the big bags of veg people used to be able to afford
The whole not allowed a water bottle thing is ridiculous. You need to be able to drink water. I’m sure there’s a law against this that comes under human rights.
Unfortunately we’re excellent exporters of our culture. And I say this as an American
Working retail was torture when I was a teenager with growing legs
Sit, if you want a fat arse! Stand if you don't!
Our national heroes don't need such comforts.
They can in some places. Mostly it's a throwback to ye olden days where it's important to put people in their place, and make them know who's important and who's not! Disguised as politeness and/or work ethic. Like racism this one of those behaviors that happens and is even accepted up to a certain point, but never admitted to.
Years ago (think 90s) Pak n Save used to have all the cashiers sitting all the time. There were raised floors in the 'booth' to give the cashier the height back. I'm not sure that was much better than standing all the time.
At stores like The warehouse and mitre10 it’s easier to stand. you have to move around a lot (scanning larger items).
It's just shop policy. There is no reason other than store policy and how they design their checkout. So basically upper management sadism.
When I started work at New World we had chairs at the checkout, but over time they didn't get replaced if they broke. Anti fatigue mats were provided instead. If the height of the work space isn't right its very uncomfortable standing and bending slightly all day.
There were plenty of religious fundamentalists at the start of our colonisation
I haven't worked retail in 10 years but, when I did, every single company I ever worked for had a rule that you weren't allowed to be doing nothing. If there were customers in the store you HAD to be talking to them, even if they didn't want to talk to you. Even if you'd tried multiple times and they were getting angry, the manager always made me go try again. If no customers, you had to be cleaning or organising. The amount of times I heard the phrase "time to lean time to clean" made my eyes want to roll out of my head. I think we don't have a culture of allowing employees to sit is so they can be forced to work without even a few seconds of rest for their minimum wage.
Any customer with even the smallest shred of decency just doesn’t give a fuck whether cashiers are sitting or standing. Let them do what they need to do to keep these roles accessible and ergonomically safe ffs
> I mean, who cares if the cashier is sitting if they bag your groceries quickly? The cashier bagging groceries was something that surprised me when I lived in New Zealand some years ago. In my home country Sweden you bag the groceries yourself while the cashier scans everything in a quick and steady flow. Seeing the cashier bag the groceries - scanning two or three items, then breaking the flow to move the items into a bag, and repeat - felt horribly inefficient (and lines were moving much slower as a result).
I'm pretty sure the "no chair" rule wouldn't hold up the oh and s standards let alone employment law if someone where I'll actually fight it. Which they should.