Blog
Supermarket Cashiers should take stand
Haivens’ “blog from Bologna” posted a “rant about making supermarket cashiers stand.” Here’s an excerpt:
Haivens’ posted a picture of supermarket cashier in Europe. As all European cashiers do, they are SITTING.
A picture of a supermarket cashier in North America is also posted. She is STANDING.
European cashiers, in thousands and thousands of supermarkets, have been sitting for decades. The world as we know it has not ended. The clientele has not vanished. Somehow groceries get bought. Grocery stores and supermarkets survive. And cashiers do not collapse from exhaustion (or at least as much exhaustion) as they do in Canada and the US.
Why is it that cashiers in North America must stand? Is it because managers think they would look lazy if they sat? Is it because unions in North America haven’t taken this up as an issue (or they have taken it up and have run into stiff resistance from management and haven’t had the power or the will to force the issue?)
Here is an interesting discussion on this question, and the Washington Post published an article titled “Taking a Stand So That Others Might Sit” worth reading.
Matthew Brett is the Canadian Dimension weblog manager. The views expressed on this blog do not necessarily represent his own. Read more by Matthew Brett.
For years it’s bothered me that anyone should be obligated to execute their work in any certain physical position. Obviously, this policy of standing at a cash register not only puts the person standing in danger of physical trauma (back, legs, feet) but, in addition, employers -take note,are more prone to make mistakes due to fatigue and physical stress. As a Canadian citizen who has lived in other countries for the past 3 decades, I can’t for the life of me think of any instance when I thought a cashier was lazy or not doing their work properly because they were sitting on a comfortable stool or chair. Just the opposite, mistakes and improper behavior will usually arise when a person is feeling uncomfortable. Canadian chains abroad make a bad name for themselves when they require their cashiers to stand and usually lose when taken to court. Not to mention the fact that none of these chains employ invalids to do this type of work - strictly not PC. Shame on these chains - catch up with the rest of the world and recognize employees as human beings.
#1. Posted by Freda Kovatch on June 2nd 2008 at 9:52am
It seems to me that the lower the wage one earns, the greater the justification for sub-human working conditions. I would imagine that the officials who make these decisions re use ( non-use) of stools by checkers are doing so from the comfort of their own desk chairs.
A work place where employees are made to feel part of a respected team would, i feel, gain more benefit in the long run than by the superficial decision not to allow stools on the job.
I haven’t spoken to any other customers who feel checkers should stand on the job. Unlike the decision makers in these businesses, patrons are much more accepting of the idea of ‘sitting down on the job’.
#2. Posted by karen muller on August 7th 2008 at 3:02pm