MILLIONS of shoppers may be affected if a new bill intended to protect both workers and customers becomes law later this year.
The California legislation regulating self-checkout policies — officially known as SB 1446 — could drive retailers like Walmart to ditch the machines altogether to meet new requirements.
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The bill has been hotly debated since it was introduced to the state senate earlier this year by Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Democrat from Los Angeles.
If passed, Californian retailers will have to meet five primary conditions to keep using self-checkout machines, according to local Nexstar affiliate KTLA.
Customers will immediately notice that the law limits the use of self-checkout machines to shoppers with ten items or less.
It also prohibits the sale of alcohol or tobacco at the machines.
Read more about self-checkout
If the bill becomes law, retailers will be forced to adjust to additional changes.
Stores will be required to have at least one manual checkout station staffed at all times and can require an employee to oversee no more than two self-checkout kiosks at a time.
In addition, any employee on self-checkout duty must be relieved of all other tasks so they can adequately monitor the area.
“This bill would prohibit a grocery establishment or a retail drug establishment from providing a self-service checkout option for customers unless specified conditions are met,” the legislation states.
UPENDING SELF-CHECKOUT
Retailers like Walmart and Target that have made self-checkout an integral part of their store design may have to rethink their store layouts if SB 1446 becomes law.
The bill includes additional requirements too.
On top of the previously mentioned conditions, retail employers would be required to conduct a study about the impact of putting self-checkout into a new location for the first time before making the final decision.
Employers would be required to alert staff at least 60 days before implementing the study and incorporate worker input throughout the process.
The analysis would be required to include a look at any technology that might replace a job or eliminate an essential function.
The law would also obligate employers to include self-checkout work as a specific environment for potential workplace hazards.
SB 1446: FIVE NEW RULES FOR RETAILERS
California’s new self-checkout law, officially known as SB 1446, includes five main requirements for retailers:
- Self-checkout must be limited to ten or fewer items
- At least one cashier-led checkout must be open
- Customers using self-checkout are prohibited from buying alcohol and tobacco
- Employees will be limited to overseeing no more than two self-checkout machines at a time
- Workers on self-checkout must be relieved of all other duties when monitoring the area
CHANGES ALREADY UNDERWAY
While the law is expected to send shockwaves throughout California‘s retail landscape if it becomes law later this year, some retailers have already begun adopting aspects of the legislation.
Target made headlines last fall when it tried out a new Express Self-Checkout strategy that only permitted shoppers with ten or fewer items to use the kiosks.
Then the company shocked shoppers when it adopted the streamlined checkout process at all of its 2,000 stores across the country in March.
Like advocates for SB 1446, Target representatives said the move was meant to improve the customer experience.
“We’re making updates chainwide to make our checkout experience even more enjoyable,” the company said in a statement after the announcement.
California’s new law has largely been backed by employee union groups but opposed by business leaders, like the California Chamber of Commerce.
Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The U.S. Sun.
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