‘Right to Sit Down’ bill filed for sales persons

A fine as high as P100,000 await operators of shopping malls and retail stores which refuse to let their sales clerks sit down at certain intervals while tending the shelves, if the proposal authored by OFW party-list Rep. Roy Señeres Sr. becomes a law.

 

House Bill 5258, otherwise known as the proposed “Right to Sit Down on the Job Act of 2014” requires operators of shopping malls, department stores and similar establishments to allow their employees to sit down at times when they are not attending to any customers during store hours.

 

The bill, however, does not specify the time when salesclerks may be allowed to sit. The measure only mandates the Labor and Employment Secretary to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of the proposal should it become a law.

 

Operators of shopping malls and similar establishments who will bar their sales personnel from sitting face a fine of P50,000 for the first offense and P100,000 for the second offense. Those who violate the proposed legislation for the third time face imprisonment of not less than two years but not exceeding three years, and/or the closure of the business establishment. 

 

If the offense is committed by a corporation, firm, association, partnership or other entity, the penalty shall be imposed on the officer found guilty of violating the measure.

 

Señeres said the bill intends to “humanize the working conditions” in shopping malls, department stores, stalls and similar establishments, where sales personnel are “arbitrarily required to stand while on duty.”

 

“This is not only deleterious to the health of the workers especially women (sic), it is also inhuman as only animals like carabaos, cows and horses can endure being on their feet even on days,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note.

 

According to Señeres, the proposal to give sales personnel a chance to sit down at work is in line with Section 11, Article II of the Constitution, which provides that “the State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

 

The bill likewise complements the Constitutional provisions protecting the people’s right to health and workers’ welfare, as well as the rights of working women, he said. —NB, GMA News