The California state Senate is considering a bill that would protect workers in grocery and pharmacy stores that offer self-checkout.
Senate Bill 1446 was originally introduced by Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas back in February but has been recently amended.
The measure would require grocery and pharmacy retailers to meet certain requirements if they wanted to offer self-checkout, including having no more than two self-checkout stations monitored by any one employee and requiring the employee to be relieved of all other duties.
The bill would also require the retailers to include self-checkout in a specified analysis of potential work hazards for purposes of their injury and illness prevention programs.
Additionally, if self-checkout significantly impacts the essential job functions or eliminates jobs or essential job functions of employees, a specified assessment must be completed before self-checkout is implemented.
The assessment would include the salaries, benefits, jobs, and work hours that would be eliminated by self-checkout.
Employees would also have to be notified 60 days before the study began and would have the opportunity for input. Collective bargaining representatives would have access to the assessment 60 days prior to the start, and copies of the assessment must be accessible by employees leading up to the study and at least 90 days after it commenced.
While lawmakers are considering voting on SB 1446, the state of California’s new minimum wage of $20 for fast food workers kicked in earlier this week.
Last year, the City of Evanston, Ill., considered a proposal that would require retailers to pay a $5,000 tax for every self-checkout kiosk the store offered.