to want a chair at work

[doctorsnote]

Hello, have name changed but have been around a while.

I work for a well know retailer, started in the summer. I will admit I am plus size; but I am having chronic hip and lower back pain. I asked for a chair to sit down on at my till at work and the manager told me I must get a doctors note in order for them to give me one.

I rang my doctor and he refused to give me a note, saying my employer needs to do a risk assessment on me and decide from that whether I need a chair.

My employer refused point blank to do this and are now threatening to take away my chair if I can't get a note. I really don't know who to believe, I feel stuck in the middle with this. I am really afraid I may lose my job over this.

Please help, should I ring the doctor back and try to speak to a different one to get a note? Or is the doctor right and my employer wrong?

Thank you for reading

You need a referal to your company's Occupational health service.

Your line manager can do it or you can probably self refer.

They can make the decision on reasonable adjustments etc eg a chair. Your GP is right to refuse - it's not their job & it should be occupational health

Who are you speaking to at your employer? Manager, HR, occupational health?

The Right to Sit: Under Regulation 11 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, UK employers must provide a suitable seat for employees whose work—or a substantial part of it—can or must be done sitting. For tasks like retail checkout work, a chair or tall stool should be made available if it does not actively prevent the duties from being performed

This is why people should join a trade union.
Unlikely we would have all the employment rights we do without their hard work over many years.

I have been speaking to the store manager. They have not contacted occupational health.

I’d have expected a major retail chain to be unionised though. Maybe it’s not a closed shop (is anywhere, these days?) and OP isn’t a member.
If so, I think the rep would still be eager to intervene, with the power of the Union behind her.

I’m surprised any till operator is expected to stand for the shift. (Cant even picture it, tbh)

Awful making people stand all the time.

I think you'd be within your rights to contact them yourself, as well as HR. I've never understood why some retailers insist on their staff standing for 8 hours at a time when they could easily do their job sitting down.

Boots? Their staff rarely sit down.

Most clothing retailers in my experience, they are standing behind the till. But I don't know if they have seats available - I've never looked!

sorry - quoted wrong person - was meant to be @Millytante

Your store manager clearly doesn’t know what to do. The process is an occupational risk assessment is carried out by the company - not a doctors note. Depending on how long you’d been there I’d be going over their head to the HR department to request this and explain the situation

the shop I work in doesn’t have seats at the till. It’s exhausting!

I used to work for Boots and was just thinking this! However, other than a manned till at a supermarket, I cant think of any shops where staff are sat behind a till.

Oh, (smart lad wanted) of course! My brain fixated on Tesco and the like, and didn't budge from there.
I think ‘till operator’ suggests a different picture and repeated activity from ‘sales assistant’ though.
I suppose in other types of store (Zara, say) you can at least move around, but actually performing the job seated the whole time might prove tricky as I’m picturing those chest high counters where you’d (historically) write your cheque/ fume about not getting a full refund on a clearly worn garment etc.
SAs tend to be more or less at eye level with customers

No doubt chairs exist which would cope with that too.
(I suppose an employer would fear all the SAs would demand chairs, and that mightn’t be great for getting other sales floor tasks done.
Gawd, I dunno. But I hope there’s some Union action here)

My error: I’d have thought a till operator was very much the rapid action ninja on supermarket checkouts, and these more free-range ones in other stores would be ‘sales assistants’, possibly because they are also out on the floor to be pounced on by indecisive types needing advice before the till bit comes in!

Would losing some weight help at all? Maybe through Mounjaro etc v

Have you specifically asked for a referal?
You should also be able to refer yourself.

Id contact occupational health myself.
Another option would be a anti fatigue mat, especially if you are at the till for long periods, it should help a bit especially if they are hard floors.
Most tills require you to stand as it's just easier to handle the goods and serve customers, I've always worked full time fully stood up apart from lunch but it's definitely harder to stand still rather than moving about doing other tasks.

Thats not really relevant to the question. The problem exists now and the employer has a legal responsibility and duty of care in terms of their employee's health and safety, right now.

You only started the job in the Summer. Did you tell them of your medical needs when you started?

Your employer has probably decided you are more trouble than it's worth, and are making things difficult so you leave. I'd read between the lines and start looking elsewhere.

If you can perform the tasks your job requires while sitting as well as you can do them while standing, you should be allowed to sit. It's the law, isn't it?