HR Alert: Are You Familiar With California’s Seating Law?

07/23/2025

By: HR NETwork Inc

HR NETwork

We Put the Human Back
In Human Resources

Are You Familiar With California’s Seating Law?
  California’s Seating Law, codified in the state’s wage orders, requires employers to provide workers with the ability to sit when the job allows for it.  

The law states simply, “if it’s feasible and practical to provide seating, you must.”  

Litigation has substantially increase since the statute’s implementation in 2001.
Why? Many employers incorrectly assumed it was their decision whether an employee could sit down or not. Or that employees with a disability needed to “qualify” for the seating provision.     

Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy Inc.   One of the biggest questions the law raised was whether employers could basically say, “This job doesn’t allow you to sit down” due to its nature.   

In Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (2016), the California Supreme Court ruled this interpretation too broad. In line with the court’s decision, employers have to “break a job into its parts” and determine whether each duty can be performed while seated. The case consequently established that suitable seating is “task-specific.”   In a grocery store, for instance, a worker can be seated while at the register but may need to stand and move while stocking items. Just because they can’t sit down when they’re restocking doesn’t mean you get out of providing them a seat when they’re cashiering, for example.   

The Kilby case means that employers may no longer rely on job titles, job descriptions, or notions of what jobs should be performed standing. Rather, they must make an individualized assessment of tasks that could yield different results even within the same job title.  

There are some exceptions, as certain wage orders have modified seating requirements.

For example, Wage Order 14, which covers agricultural occupations, only requires seating to be available when an employee is working on a machine.   

Analyzing Job Components 
Kilby really answered the key question of “Is it the job, or is it the task?”. 
The decision made clear what employers have to do to remain compliant with the statute. If you’re in an industry in which there are tasks associated with jobs that could be seated and they’re not, you need to analyze those. If there are duties that workers can do while seated, this option should be made available to them. 
This job analysis can include an examination of numerous factors, such as the frequency and duration of tasks, as well as the feasibility and practicability of providing seating.  
And don’t wait for an employee to ask you, because they may not ask. They may just file a lawsuit instead. For this reason, employers should be proactive in assessing the components of each position.   
If you conclude you’re not going to allow employees to be seated, it’s important to ensure you well document the reasons behind that decision. It’s also recommended that employers confirm in writing to the employee the basis for the decision and maintain a log of conversations as they occur so there is a documented timeline.    

For additional information, please call our office at (714) 799-1115

Michelle Brubaker

Michelle Brubaker, the Director of Business Operations of HR NETwork, has been with the company for 16 years. Joining the team as an HR Coordinator, she quickly worked her way up to Executive Assistant and on to her current role as Director of Business Operations. Handling all things business-related including contracts and accounting, she is the unwavering support of HR NETwork.


Michelle has an impressive resume with almost 20 years of experience in supervising, managing, and motivating teams. Her strengths lie in building trust with her colleagues and clients, delivering results, and creating efficient processes to align with the company’s mission. Her passion and dedication have made her an integral part of the business.

She believes our clients are an extension of the HR NETwork family and genuinely loves assisting them. “It’s a great feeling knowing during critical times, we are able to put their minds at ease and hold their hands through them”.

Outside of work, Michelle enjoys travelling, country music and all things self-development. She has a fur baby named Buddy and loves being outdoors with him as well.

Shannon Martin

Shannon Martin, HR Business Partner brings over thirty years of human resources experience and expertise from Fortune 500 high-technology and service companies. Shannon has held both HR leadership and consulting roles. She has supported clients across a variety of industries including fiduciary services and investment management, consumer and real estate information, health care, beauty, and a large IT Infrastructure group.

Her scope of experience is broad and progressive and the disciplines she finds to be most rewarding are: Strategic Planning, Organizational Development Leadership Development, Change Management, Performance Management Coaching and Mediation & Conflict Resolution. 

Shannon has “hands-on” experience implementing mergers and acquisitions and building HR Departments. She has completed extensive coursework in communication and excels at building organizational processes that bring cohesion and engagement. She enjoys motivating and mentoring employees to help them achieve increased business performance.  

Shannon holds a Human Resource Management Certificate from UC Irvine.  She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

Shannon considers herself an HR geek and finds reward when solving a challenge creatively. Shannon earned the Radio Rookie of The Year Award from KBPK, a college station. She also earned the Leadership Award presented by First American Trust Company. A cowgirl at heart, she loves being outside and working with animals of any kind.

Michelle Odell

Michelle Odell is currently a Talent Acquisition and Human Resources Manager with HR Network and has experience ranging from Recruiting, General HR, Employee Relations and Training.  She enjoys helping employees navigate through questions they may have with career development, understanding benefits, policies, or recruitment. 

Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton and majored in Psychology with an emphasis in Human Resources.  She spent some time away from HR Network to recruit for a company bringing them from 5 to 130+ employees.  She was happy to return to HR Network in 2019 and is enjoying being part of the team and learning about new laws and practices. 

Michelle was born and raised in California and has three children, three cats, two dogs, a McCaw, and a husband

Lee Anne Woods

The newest member of our team, Lee Anne Woods is an HR Business Partner at HR NETwork. She previously worked in Human Resources in the mortgage and banking field, as well as doing secondary marketing for 10 years. Lee Anne decided to join HR NETwork when she realized how rewarding it is to be able to help clients navigate the crazy world of HR! “What I like about HR NETwork is how much we care about our clients, and how much we value learning and growing, so we may give them the most up to date information and trends out there!”

Lee Anne has a husband and two grown daughters. She enjoys travelling around the country and watching her daughters sporting events!

Lorraine Calder

Lorraine Calder has been an HR Business Partner at HR NETwork for 12 years. Since making a major movie from the UK to the US in 1997, she has enjoyed keeping up with the everchanging CA labor laws. She believes knowledge is a powerful tool to have, and is always happy to share her knowledge and experiences with our clients, along with the many HR trainings we provide. As a people person, Lorraine really enjoys making relationships with our clients, and is happy that our clients and vendors put their trust and confidence in our team. She gets great satisfaction at the end of the workday, knowing that she has achieved something special and values being part of a great and caring team!

Lorraine enjoys spending time with her three grandsons and two granddaughters. “Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it, I am living proof of that.”

Michelle Espinoza

Michelle Espinoza joined the HR NETwork team in 2014 in the capacity of HR Manager and has more than 10 years of progressive management experience in human resources. She is now the Director of HR & Client Relations at HR NETwork and leads the HR management team in supporting our clients. 

Her career began in Talent Acquisition where she acquired a strong aptitude in employee relations.  She realized that a lot of companies needed help in navigating through the endless California employment laws and legislation. This led her to transition to Human Resources to focus on helping companies maintain legal compliance.  

Michelle has a keen understanding that business processes are vitally important to any business sector and apply to all types of organizations.  Realizing that the commonality amongst various industries generally results in the same matters led Michelle to what she truly enjoys – strengthening the partnership with our clients in HR matters.  

Michelle holds a B.S in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources.  

During her free time, she enjoys fitness, outdoor activities, spending time with family and friends.