Anaheim City Council
March 3, 2026

Self-Checkout Ordinance Comparative Analysis
Provision Long Beach (ORD-25-
0010)
Costa Mesa (effective
date April 20, 2026) CA SB 442 (Pending)
Staffing Ratio 1 employee : 3 SCO
stations
1 employee : 3 SCO
stations
At least 1 dedicated
employee at SCO area (no
fixed ratio specified)
Dedicated Employee
Requirement
Yes – no other duties that
interfere with direct visual
inspection of SCO
Yes – dedicated to SCO
monitoring
Yes – employee must be
relieved of other duties
Staffed Lane Required At least 1 non-SCO lane
staffed whenever SCO is
open
At least 1 staffed lane open
before any SCO activated
At least 1 manual checkout
station staffed when SCO
available
Item Limit 15 items max per SCO
transaction
15 items max per SCO
transaction
15 items max (not hard cap)
Restricted Items at
SCO
Items requiring ID (alcohol,
tobacco); items with theft-
deterrent tags or in locked
cabinets
Items requiring ID (alcohol,
tobacco); items with theft-
deterrent tags or in locked
cabinets
Items requiring ID; items
with anti-theft security
devices
Covered
Establishments
Food retail (>15K sq ft or
>85K sq ft w/ 10% food);
all drug retail (no size
threshold)
Food retail (>15K sq ft or
>85K sq ft w/ 10% food);
all drug retail (no size
threshold)
Food retail (>15K sq ft or
>75K sq ft w/ 10% food);
drug retail stores with >75
stores located in the state
Enforcement
Mechanism
Private right of action only
– employees or customers
may sue in Superior Court
Private right of action
(details modeled on Long
Beach)
Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement; employees
may file complaints and
recover attorney's fees;
public prosecutors may also
bring actions; $1,000/day
per violation, up to $200K
aggregate
Penalties $100/employee/day,
escalating to
$1,000/employee/day;
attorney fees and costs
$100/employee/day,
escalating to
$1,000/employee/day;
attorney fees and costs
Up to $1,000/day; max
aggregate $200,000
Right to Cure None – rejected despite
industry requests for 15-day
cure period
15-day right to cure (added
in response to public
feedback)
Not specified in current text
Implementation Period 31 days after mayoral
approval (~30 days; no
delayed implementation
despite 150-day request
from industry)
60 days from adoption
(adopted Feb. 17, effective
Apr. 20, 2026)
TBD – 60-day advance
notice required before
adding new SCO stations
Public Signage Required – QR code/link to
city website, summary of
rights, enforcement options
Required (modeled on Long
Beach)
Advance notice to workers
and unions; public
notification requirements
Anti-Retaliation Yes – prohibits termination
or discrimination for
asserting rights
Yes Yes – standard labor
protections
State Preemption
Clause
None included; Chamber
requested alignment with
future state law
Not specified Non-preemption clause:
does not override local
ordinances providing equal
or greater protections