Beginning in March 2025, New York employers with 10 or more retail employees will be required to take measures to prevent and prepare for workplace violence.
The Retail Worker Safety Act will require covered employers to implement a written workplace violence prevention policy and provide it to all employees upon hire. Employers must either adopt a model policy developed by the state Department of Labor (DOL) or establish their own program that equals or exceeds the model policy’s standards.
The policy will cover:
- Risk factors for workplace violence.
- Methods for preventing workplace violence.
- Federal and state law concerning violence against retail workers.
- Retaliation protections for individuals who raise concerns about workplace violence or testify or assist in any proceeding under the Retail Worker Safety Act.
In addition to the policy, employers will be required to provide workplace violence prevention training to all retail employees upon hire and annually thereafter. The DOL will develop a model training program for employer use, but employers will be required to supplement it with site-specific information on emergency exits and meeting places. The employer’s workplace violence prevention policy must also be provided to employees at every annual training.
The Act will also require employers with 500 or more retail employees nationwide to provide access to panic buttons throughout the workplace.
A panic button is defined as a physical button that immediately contacts the local 9-1-1 public safety answering point, provides employee location information and dispatches local law enforcement to the workplace. Employers may use buttons installed in easily accessible locations in the workplace or wearable or mobile phone-based buttons.
If the employer opts for wearable or mobile phone-based panic buttons, every employee must receive one, and they may not be used to track employee locations except when the panic button is triggered. Mobile phone-based panic buttons may only be installed on employer-provided equipment.
The law takes effect March 4, 2025, except for the panic button provisions, which take effect January 1, 2027.
