Retailers have treated self-checkout as an operational decision shaped by labor costs, consumer preferences and technology. Rhode Island may be setting a precedent and changing those calculations by making parts of the checkout experience a matter of state law.
The state recently enacted the Restrictions on Self-Service Checkout Stations Act, becoming the first state to establish statewide operating requirements for grocery self-checkout. The law establishes minimum staffing standards and defines how employees assigned to self-checkout may perform their work.
The statute requires grocery stores to maintain “a minimum of one manual checkout station in operation for every three (3) self-service checkout stations in operation,” while also requiring at least one staffed checkout lane that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It further provides that “an employee shall be relieved of all other duties when monitoring any self-service checkout station.”…