A state senate bill passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously last week. SB 1446 would make a number of changes — including barring grocery and drug stores from using self-checkouts unless one staff member is monitoring them, with no more than two checkouts per worker. The worker would be required to be relieved of all other duties.
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A California bill reportedly aimed at preventing shoplifting could significantly restrict the use of self-checkout kiosks at large grocery and drug stores and lead to higher prices.
A legislative package aimed at reducing retail crime includes a requirement for much closer supervision of self-checkout in stores.
State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas stated that establishments that offer self-service checkout suffer 16 times more losses from theft.
A proposed bill in California could lead to fewer self-checkout kiosks in the Golden State.
A proposed Senate bill would prohibit self-checkout lanes for customers at all California grocery and retail drug stores unless certain conditions are met. It’s all in an effort to combat theft.
California could be the case study that changes how retailers use self-checkout.
Senate Bill 1446, introduced by Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas earlier this year, would require that at least one employee is available to monitor two self-checkout stations. That one employee would need to be “relieved of all other duties,” the filing said.
At times, using self-checkout was the only option many of us had when shopping at certain stores. But recently, several retailers have started to curb their reliance on these machines amid rising theft and customer complaints. And now, a new law could force some stores to ban self-checkout altogether.