The bill adds a new section to chapter 49.85 RCW and amends RCW 49.85.015, 49.85.045, and 49.85.050 to regulate self-service checkout at qualifying grocery establishments. It bars grocery stores from offering self-service checkout unless: at least one staffed manual checkout is available to any given customer when self-service is offered; a workplace policy and signage limit self-service transactions to no more than 15 items; and no more than two self-service stations are monitored by any one employee at a time, with that employee relieved from all other duties while monitoring. The bill also requires grocery employers who offer self-service checkout to include those stations in the hazard analysis for required accident prevention programs. The bill defines terms such as grocery establishment (retail stores over 15,000 square feet that primarily sell household foodstuffs, and certain distribution centers), self-service checkout, manual checkout station, change in control, incumbent and successor grocery employer, eligible grocery worker, and transfer document. Discount warehouse or membership retail stores that sell more than half of items in bulk and charge a membership or assessment fee are exempt. Enforcement and remedies are civil and administrative: the Department of Labor and Industries will investigate employee complaints and may order relief; the department may assess a civil penalty of $100 per day for each day in violation up to a $10,000 aggregate, with penalties paid to the director for deposit in the supplemental pension fund (RCW 51.44.033); penalties may be recovered in superior court or through department collection procedures under RCW 51.48.120–51.48.150; and the attorney general may pursue actions including injunctive relief. Before a private superior court action under RCW 49.85.045, an employee must provide written notice and the employer has 30 calendar days from receipt to cure the alleged violation. The bill cites and relies on other sections of chapter 49.85 (RCW 49.85.020 through .065 and .900) but those sections are not included here, so full procedural or remedial context from them is not confirmed. The text references a 180-day transition employment period, required accident prevention program law, and a workplace policy and signage requirement without providing full definitions or content requirements for those items, and no effective date is provided in the extracted material.

If enacted, large grocery stores and qualifying distribution centers that offer self-checkout will have to keep at least one staffed manual checkout available for any customer, limit self-checkout to 15 items per customer with posted signage and a workplace policy, and assign no more than two self-checkout stations to a single employee who must be dedicated solely to monitoring them. Practically, that will likely raise staffing and scheduling costs and reduce how much stores can substitute self-checkout for employees, require updates to safety programs to include self-checkout hazards, and leave membership bulk stores that sell mostly large-quantity items exempt. Enforcement will be by the Department of Labor and Industries after an employee complaint, with $100 per day fines up to $10,000 (paid into the supplemental pension fund) and potential attorney general actions; employees must give written notice and employers get 30 days to fix violations before a court case. Important implementation details are missing from the provided text—such as the exact content required for the workplace policy and signage, the 180-day transition reference, effective dates, and which accident-prevention rules apply—so stores will face some uncertainty while planning.