Anaheim weighs ordinance requiring staff at self-checkout kiosks

Anaheim's city council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would require at least one employee for every four self-checkout kiosks in grocery stores and retail pharmacies, the latest move by an Orange County city to regulate automated checkout technology.

If approved, Anaheim would join Long Beach, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana as Orange County cities to act on self-checkout staffing, as labor unions and the grocery industry divide sharply over the measure's effects on workers, retail crime and consumer prices.

Under the proposed rules, retailers would be required to post one employee per four self-checkout kiosks during all operating hours, Voice of OC reported. Shoppers in self-service lanes would face a 15-item limit per transaction, and the machines could not be used for cigarette or alcohol sales. The measure would also require stores to keep at least one traditional cashier on duty between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Retailers that fail to comply could face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per employee per day, according to Voice of OC. Stores would have three weeks to correct any cited violation before fines begin. Both employees and customers would be permitted to bring civil suits against non-compliant retailers.

Jenna Thompson, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, said checkout attendants already handle a range of duties beyond monitoring transactions. "Workers who oversee self-checkout areas commonly help customers with lotto tickets, Coinstar, and more while unlocking locked cases and cleaning up spills in the front," Thompson said in a Monday email. "This is on top of their main job — to help customers who are using self-checkout."

The California Grocers Association opposed the measure, arguing self-checkout technology already includes layered theft deterrents. "The reality of retail theft is thieves simply walk the items out of the front door bypassing all checkouts," Tim James, the association's director of local government relations, wrote in a March 3 letter to Anaheim officials. James added that self-checkout "stations are equipped with multiple layers of technology to prevent retail theft, which includes hiding or improperly scanning items."

A city staff report cited by Voice of OC said the nationwide expansion of self-service checkout had raised concerns about "worker safety, retail theft, customer service, and employment levels," while acknowledging the technology "can improve efficiency."

The Anaheim City Council is scheduled to take up the ordinance at its 5 p.m. Tuesday meeting, Voice of OC reported.