ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 6.110
(GROCERY AND DRUG STORE STAFFING STANDARDS
FOR SELF-SERVICE CHECKOUT STATIONS) TO TITLE 6
(PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY) OF THE ANAHEIM
MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO GROCERY AND DRUG
STORE STAFFING STANDARDS FOR SELF-SERVICE
CHECKOUT STATIONS.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA DOES HEREBY FIND AND DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, the City of Anaheim, pursuant to its police power, may enact regulations for the public peace, morals, and welfare of the City; and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 2026, the City Council directed staff to return with a draft ordinance to establish staffing requirements for self-service checkout stations at grocery and drug stores; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to establish staffing standards for self-service checkout stations located in retail grocery and/or drug stores as set forth below; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
6.110 GROCERY AND DRUG STORE STAFFING STANDARDS FOR SELF-SERVICE
CHECKOUT STATIONS
6.110.010 PURPOSE.
It is in the public’s interest to require grocery and drug stores to adopt effective preventative measures that will address the impacts on public health and safety that retail theft creates within the context of self-service checkout operations where theft commonly occurs but remains largely unchecked and underreported. Regulating the staffing of self-service checkout operations will address potentially unsafe working conditions for employees and unsafe shopping environments for customers.
6.110.020 DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Ordinance:
.010 “Drug Retail Establishment” means a retail store that sells a variety of prescription and non-prescription medicines and miscellaneous items, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, sundries, fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry foods, beverages, prepared foods, and other merchandise.
.020 “Food Retail Establishment” means a retail store that is either: (1) over fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet in size and sells primarily household foodstuff for offsite consumption, including fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, canned foods, beverages, baked foods and/or prepared foods (other household supplies or products are secondary to the primary purpose of food sales); or (2) over eighty-five thousand (85,000) square feet and with ten percent (10%) of its sales floor area dedicated to the sale of non-taxable merchandise, including the sale of fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry foods, beverages, baked foods and/or prepared foods.
.030 “Non-Self-Service Checkout Station” means a station that is not a Self-Service Checkout Station and at which an employee provides human assistance to a customer for scanning, bagging, and/or accepting payment for the customer’s purchases.
.040 “Self-Service Checkout” means that automated processes that enable customers to scan, bag, and pay for their purchase without human assistance, including fixed self-checkout and scan- and-go self-checkout.
.050 “Self-Service Checkout Station” means a station at a fixed location within a Drug Retail Establishment and/or Food Retail Establishment at which a customer can engage in a Self-Service Checkout for the customer’s purchases.
6.110.030 SELF-SERVICE CHECKOUT REQUIREMENTS.
.010 Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments that provide Self-Service Checkout options shall assign at least one (1) employee to supervise the Self-Service Checkout operation at all times that Self-Service Checkout is in operation during business hours. The assigned employee shall have the ability to maintain direct visual inspection and surveillance of the Self-Service Checkout operations at all times.
.020 In the event a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment operates two (2) or more Self-Service Checkout Stations, the Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment shall maintain a staffing ratio of at least one (1) employee for every four (4) Self-Service Checkout Stations (1:4 ratio). The manner in which this standard is implemented may take into account operational and logistical feasibility.
.030 Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments that provide Self-Service Checkout options shall provide at least one Non-Self-Service Checkout Station staffed by an employee during the hours of 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
.040 Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall have signage prominently displayed that states that self-checkout should be limited to purchases of fifteen (15) items.
.050 Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall maintain a workforce policy that prohibits customers from using a Self-Service Checkout Station to purchase either of the following:
.0501 Items that require customers to provide a form of identification, including, but not limited to, alcohol and tobacco products.
.0502 Items subject to special theft-deterrent measures that are affixed to the item, including, but not limited to, electronic article surveillance, ink, or other tags, that require the intervention of an employee to remove the theft-deterrent measure at a Non-Self-Service Checkout Station.
.060 Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall notify the public of this Ordinance by prominently posting signs in locations accessible to customers, which references Anaheim Municipal Code Chapter 6.110, and provides an overview of the Ordinance requirements and a physical and/or email address to which notifications of violations of the Ordinance may be delivered.
6.110.040 ENFORCEMENT.
.010 A person who claims a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment has violated this Chapter must notify the store management in person and in writing at the address established pursuant to subsection .030 of the violation, after which the establishment shall have twenty-one (21) calendar days from the date of notification to cure the violation. If the violation is not cured, the aggrieved individual may bring a private right of action in the Superior Court of the State of California against a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment for violating this Article and, upon prevailing, may be awarded:
.0101 A civil penalty for each violation of this Chapter of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day in which the violation remains uncured. .0102 Attorneys’ fees and costs.
SECTION 2. INCONSISTENCIES.
Any provision of the Anaheim Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY.
If any chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court or competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or its application to other persons.
The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions of the application thereof to any person, be declared invalid or unconstitutional. No portion of this Ordinance shall supersede any local, State, or Federal law, regulation, or codes dealing with life safety factors.
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall take effect sixty (60) days after its adoption.
SECTION 5. CERTIFICATION.
The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be printed once within fifteen (15) days after its adoption in the Anaheim Bulletin, a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City of Anaheim.
THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Anaheim held on the ____ day of ______________, 2026, and thereafter passed and adopted at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the ____ day of ______________, 2026, by the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
CITY OF ANAHEIM
By: _________________________________
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM
ATTEST:
______________________________________
CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM
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