CALIFORNIA – Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas’s (D-Los Angeles) held a press conference, August 14, on Senate Bill 1446 which, if signed into law, would prohibit grocery and drug stores from providing a self-checkout option unless certain labor conditions are met.
This includes the availability of an open cashier lane.
Smallwood-Cuevas says the proliferation of self-checkout has caused an increase in theft, negative consequences related to staffing levels, customer disrespect and bullying.
According to Smallwood-Cuevas, SB 1446 will protect workers and the public by ensuring safe staffing levels at grocery and drug stores with better supervision of self-checkout machines.
61% of workers say insufficient staff in stores with self-checkout
Researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School found that the deployment of self-checkout machines often leads to understaffed workplaces, resulting in more frequent occurrences of customer disrespect and bullying.
Key statistics include 61% of workers reporting there is always or often insufficient staff to get the work done if they work in stores with self-checkout.