Costa Mesa Municipal Code Ch. VII Grocery and Drug Store Staffing Standards for Self-Service Checkout Stations

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 the hostile and unsafe working conditions for employees, and unsafe shopping environments for customers.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

This article shall be known as the "Self-Service Checkout Staffing Requirements."

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

For the purpose of this chapter:

City

means the City of Costa Mesa.

Customer

means an individual who buys consumer goods from a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment.

Drug Retail Establishment

means a retail store that sells a variety of prescription and nonprescription 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.

Employee

means a worker employed directly by a hiring entity at a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment. "Employee" does not include managers, supervisors or confidential employees.

Food Retail Establishment

means a retail store that is either: (1) over 15,000 square feet in size and sells primarily household foodstuff for off-site consumption, including fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry 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 85,000 square feet and with 10% of their 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.

Non-Self-Service Checkout station

means a station that is not a Self-Service Checkout and at which an employee provides human assistance to a customer for scanning, bagging, and/or accepting payment for the customer's purchases.

Self-Service Checkout

means the automated processes that enable customers to scan, bag, and pay for their purchases without human assistance, including, but not limited to, fixed self-checkout, scan-and-go self-checkout, or mobile self-checkout.

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.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

(a) 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 that is available during the times that a Self-Service Checkout option is available to customers, and Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall have signage that states that self-checkout should be limited to purchases of about 15 items.

(b) Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall have an established workforce policy that prohibits customers from using a Self-Service Checkout station to purchase either of the following:

(1) Items that require customers to provide a form of identification, including, but not limited to, alcohol and tobacco products.

(2) 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, or items placed in locked cabinets, that require the intervention of an Employee to remove them before purchase.

(c) Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments shall notify the public of this article by prominently posting signage in a location accessible to customers, which includes either a link or QR code to the City of Costa Mesa website regarding this article, and a physical and/or email address to which notifications of violations of this article may be delivered. Failure to have and/or maintain an address pursuant to this section shall waive a Drug and/or Food Retail Establishment's ability to assert lack of notice in any civil action brought pursuant to this article.

(d) Self-Service Checkout stations shall be located to enable observation and surveillance from both employees of Drug Retail Establishments and Food Retail Establishments and local law enforcement.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

(a) 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 no other work responsibilities that would interfere with their ability to maintain direct visual inspection and surveillance of the Self-Service Checkout operations.

(b) In the event a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment operates two or more Self-Service Checkout stations, the Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment shall maintain a staffing ratio of at least one Employee for every three Self-Service Checkout Stations (1:3 ratio). The manner in which this standard is implemented may take into account operational and logistical feasibility.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

(a) A Customer or Employee must notify a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment by notifying the store management in person and in writing at the address established pursuant to section 9-173(c) of a violation, after which the establishment shall have 15 calendar days from the date of notification to cure the violation. If the violation is not cured, a Customer or Employee of a Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment 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:

(1) A civil penalty for each violation of this article of $100 for each employee of the Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment. Each day the violation is not cured, the penalty shall increase an additional $100 per employee per day up to a limit of $1,000 per employee per day for each day in which the violation remains uncured.

(2) Attorneys' fees and costs.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)

No Drug Retail Establishment or Food Retail Establishment shall terminate, reduce in compensation, or otherwise discriminate against any Employee for seeking to enforce their rights under this article by any lawful means, for participating in proceedings related to this article, for opposing any practice proscribed by this article, or for otherwise asserting rights under this Article 7.

(Ord. No. 2026-02, 2/17/2026)