Committee advances SB 442 setting minimum staffing and sign standards for self-checkout lanes

The committee voted to advance SB 442, which would set minimum staffing and signage standards for self-checkout systems in grocery and retail stores.

Senator Smallwood-Cuevas said the bill would require at least one staffed checkout lane be open when self-checkout is in use, require at least one employee dedicated solely to monitoring self-checkout stations, limit items requiring age verification from self-checkout, and establish a recommended 15-item limit on self-checkout transactions. The author said the bill was substantially amended from a prior, broader proposal after stakeholder negotiations; she removed a technology-assessment requirement and reduced penalties.

Nancy Mendoza, a grocery worker at Safeway and UFCW member, testified that self-checkout reduced hours and led to staffing cuts at her store and that monitoring and assisting customers became an extra burden on workers. Labor groups and consumer advocates including UFCW, Teamsters, Equal Rights Advocates and Consumers Federation of California supported the bill. Grocery and retail associations, the California Grocers Association and California Retailers Association, opposed the bill citing concerns about increased labor cost, diminished customer choice, preemption (local ordinances) and operational difficulties.

Assemblymember Carla spoke in strong support based on personal observations of reduced cashier staffing and customer experience problems; Assemblymember Ward and others also voiced support. The committee recorded a roll-call vote sending the bill to the Appropriations Committee; the transcript shows a 5-0 vote with Ortega, El Hawari, Kalra, Lee and Ward recorded as aye.