you are effectively being an employee for free for the store.

You already accepted being an employee of the store when you decided to enter the warehouse to pick the items off the shelf yourself.

The only question is: Can you clock out faster if your co-worker helps you process the items you picked or will it be faster if you do it all by yourself?

My local store let's me scan with my phone as I shop. When I get to the checkout I scan a QR code, it transfers everything to the register asks if I have anything else. Occasionally it'll have someone come over and scan a few items to spot check, but not super often. Then I pay and leave.

Usually takes maybe 30 seconds to check out.

Just do what I do, steal the most expensive small thing in your cart as payment for doing the job.

As some other people have said, I like the ones where you can scan with your own device or a handheld one they provide. However, I don't mind the regular ones where you scan everything at checkout either, though that's definitely easier given that I live alone and in walking distance, so I don't need to buy that many things at once. I should note that I mostly saw the scan as you go types in Europe, though a Metro store in Canada also had the portable scanners.