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Association of All Great Retailers
Power Newsletter for Retailers


May 2011 - Vol 2, Issue 15
In This Issue
Legislative Power
Pre-Employment Background Checks
Retailer News
Do You Have a Power Member Password?

diane adams
Diane Adams

I would like to personally thank you for your Power Membership in the Association of All Great Retailers.  We want to hear from you about how we can help you meet your retail goals.  Please, contact us to share your thoughts!

Legislative Power
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Through our affiliation with California Retailer's Association (CRA), the only trade organization which represents a broad base of retail companies, including supermarkets, chain drug stores and general merchandise retailers, you will have a voice in the legislative issues that affect your business bottom line.  Share your legislative priorities and concerns with us here, and AAGR will be your voice to the California Retailer's Association.

As part of your Power Membership for Retailers, you receive access to the Golden State Report
which highlights pending legislation, regulatory proposals, and other current California government issues important to retailers. Download the most recent edition of the Golden State Report.

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HIGHLIGHT ON NEW LAWS AND REGULATIONS
The 2010 Session of the California Legislature saw a number of bills enacted that will affect the retail community. You can review a full list of the laws pertaining to retailers by clicking here.  

NEW REGULATIONS ON AUTO REFRIGERANT EFFECTIVE NOW  auto refrigerant
As part of its ongoing mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the California Air Resources Board adopted regulations relating to sale of small cans of auto refrigerant. These regulations became effective on January 10, 2011.  View the retailer requirements and more information here.

LONG BEACH ADOPTS PLASTIC BAG PROHIBITION
On May 17th the Long Beach City Council approved an ordinance that bans supermarkets, pharmacies, grocery and convenience stores, farmers markets and other retail food stores providing their customers with plastic bags to carry their purchases.  The ordinance has an August 1, 2011 effective date for large stores and a January 1, 2012 effective date for small stores and farmers markets.  Read the May 20th edition of the Golden State Report here for more information on the ordinance specifics.  Other California jurisdictions have enacted plastic bag bans including the cities of Calabasas, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Santa Monica as well as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties. 

PROPOSED LEGISLATION

tobaccoTWO TOBACCO BILLS INCREASE TOBACCO PENALTIES
Although half a dozen bills were introduced relating to retail tobacco sales, only two substantively affect retailers.  SB 331, Padilla, is the bigger threat to tobacco retailers.  It would dramatically increase penalties for illegal sales, and expand the time frame over which violations are accumulated.  Under current law, eight strikes, over a two-year period and a license is revoked.  Under SB 331, three strikes in one year, and a license could be revoked.  AB 1301, Hill, is the other penalty bill, but its provisions are less onerous than SB 331.  View chart for details.   

Safety - Pre-Employment Background Checks

background checkRegardless of the size of your business, background screening is a necessary hiring practice to avoid lawsuits and costly hiring mistakes. Gone are the days of a simple reference check and a few phone calls to screen new employees.  Amid security concerns, corporate scandals, workplace violence, workplace theft, and fraud, pre-employment background checks have become common place.  Over 96% of HR professionals report that their companies do background checks of new hires, up from 66% in 1996 according to The Society for Human Resource Management Work Place Violence Survey.  

Download Farmers Loss Control Bulletin on Pre-Employment Background Checks.  

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Don't forget, as an AAGR power member you are entitled to receive a 2011 Personalized electronic version - Workplace Illness and Injury Prevention Program (IIPP).  Contact AAGR for more information here.

Knowledge is Power!  News Important to Retailers 
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USA Today - Retailers reining in sophisticated theft rings
Out of the tough economic environment has emerged a new class of property theft that's enriching professional criminals and putting U.S. retailers on highest alert. Retailers are losing $30 billion a year, a number so alarming that the nation's largest grocer recently hired its own manager of organized crime. He oversees investigators in each of Kroger's 17 divisions across the nation. They call organized retail theft a "gateway crime," opening up valuable leads into other cases involving foreign and U.S. currency counterfeit, guns and narcotics.  Read more.  

NPR - In an Aging Nation Making Stores More Senior Friendly
Retailers are paying special attention to older shoppers these days. Within the next decade the number of people older than 65 is set to jump almost 30 percent. That shift has store designers thinking about how to accommodate the millions of older shoppers who'll be streaming through their doors.  Read more.  Listen to NPR radio story.  

Did you know?
Personal income tax collections are estimated to be more than $5 billion higher than last year.  If these numbers hold, this will help reduce the amount of draconian cuts needed to offset the remaining $12-$14 billion state budget deficit. 

Do You Have a Power Member Password?
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