Right to sit in the United States
The right to sit in the United States refers to state and local laws guaranteeing workers the right to sit at work when standing is not necessary. The right to sit was a pillar of the early labor movement. Between 1881 and 1917, almost all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had passed legislation concerning suitable seating for workers. These laws were enacted during the Progressive Era, spearheaded by women workers in the labor movement. The original texts of these laws almost always applied only to female workers. Most states with right to sit laws have subsequently amended their laws to include all workers regardless of sex. Some states allow seating accommodations for workers who are minors, disabled, or pregnant. There is no federal right to sit law. Disabled workers who qualify can request seating as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Pregnant workers can request seating under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Largely obscure and rarely enforced for over a century, right to sit laws have obtained new relevance following several high-profile lawsuits against major corporations in California and other states during the 2010s and 2020s. States with current, gender-neutral right to sit laws include California, Florida, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Some states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, maintain gendered language referring to female workers only. Other states, such as Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, repealed their right to sit laws between 1951 and 2015. Mississippi and Hawaii are the only states to have never had right to sit laws. Right to sit laws have been enacted at the local level in several cities, including Portland, Oregon and St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2019, politicians in several states, including Hawaii, Maryland, New York, and West Virginia, have proposed legislation to enact right to sit laws or amend them to be gender neutral. History In the late 1800s and early 1900s, during the Progressive Era, numerous states passed laws granting workers the right to suitable seats, specifically for women workers. According to a report by the sociologist Annie Marion MacLean, 22 states had passed suitable seating laws for women workers by 1897. By 1915, only four states lacked a suitable seating law for women workers: Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Mexico. Principles of Labor Legislation, a foundational labor law text written in 1916 by John R. Commons and John Bertram Andrews, noted that an aspect of early 20th century labor reforms that is "[p]articularly striking is the special protection of women manifested in the laws on seats, toilets, and dressing-rooms." At the time, all right to sit legislation in the United States was gendered, applying specifically to women workers. They write that as "far back as the end of the 'seventies the dangers of constant standing for salesgirls were recognized, and it was urged that they be furnished seats and