California lawmakers are again pushing to further regulate self-checkout lanes in grocery and drug stores, reviving a proposal that failed last year.
SB 442, introduced by Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, would bar stores from offering self-checkout unless at least one staffed register is open at the same time. The bill is meant to improve workplace conditions.
California's proposed Senate Bill 442, aimed at regulating self-checkout lanes, has sparked debate among labor unions, grocers, and lawmakers. The bill, introduced by Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, seeks to improve service and workplace conditions by requiring stores to have at least one staffed checkout lane and a dedicated worker to assist self-checkout customers. It also limits self-checkout transactions to 15 items and prohibits the sale of items requiring identification, such as alcohol and tobacco, at these stations.
Senate Bill 442, from Los Angeles Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, who chairs the Senate committee on labor and public employment, would require stores to have at least one dedicated worker there to help self-service customers. Stores would also be required to operate at least one traditional staffed checkout lane at all times and restrict the type and number of items a customer could bring through self-checkout.
“This is about supporting our workforce, to make sure that they’re safe, but mostly to also make sure that they’re providing the level of service that customers expect and deserve,” said Smallwood-Cuevas on the Senate floor earlier this summer before the bill passed that chamber 26-10.
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