New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on September 4, 2024 that requires retail employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention training and policies, among other measures.  The law becomes effective 180 days after her signature, or March 3, 2025.

This law, referred to as the “Retail Worker Safety Act,” (the “Act”) applies to any person, entity, business, or company that has at least 10 employees working at a retail store. A “retail store” is defined as a store that sells consumer commodities at retail and is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises. It requires covered employers to adopt a workplace violence prevention policy to be provided to all employees upon hire and annually thereafter.  The Act further requires covered employers to implement a workplace violence prevention training program and present it to their employees upon hire and annually thereafter. Additionally, this law requires covered employers to provide panic buttons to their retail workers to be used in case of an emergency (more on this requirement below).

Workplace Violence Prevention Policy

A covered employer’s workplace violence prevention policy must:

• Outline a list of factors or situations that might place retail employees at risk of workplace violence (for example, working late nights or early mornings, exchanging money with the public, working alone or in small numbers, and uncontrolled access to the workplace);
• Outline methods that employers may use to prevent workplace violence incidents (including reporting systems for such incidents);
• Include information about the federal and state statutory provisions that address violence against retail workers and the remedies available to employees, as well as a statement that there may be applicable local laws; and
• Enumerate protections against retaliation for employees who report workplace violence or report the presence of factors/situations in the workplace that might place a retail employee at risk of workplace violence, or who testify or assist in a related legal proceeding.

Workplace Violence Prevention Training

A covered employer’s workplace violence prevention training must be interactive and include the following:

• Information on the Retail Worker Safety Act;
• Examples of measures retail employees can use to protect themselves when faced with workplace violence from customers or coworkers;
• De-escalation tactics;
• Active shooter drills;
• Emergency procedures;
• Instruction on the use of security alarms, panic buttons and other emergency devices; and
• A site-specific list of emergency exits and meeting places in case of an emergency.

Model Policy and Training

The New York State Department of Labor (“NY DOL”) will establish a model policy and training program. Covered employers may adopt the model policy and/or training program or may establish their own compliant workplace violence prevention policy and training. The Act provides that the NY DOL will evaluate and update the model policy and training every four years beginning in 2027.

Covered employers must provide their employees a notice containing the workplace violence prevention policy and the information presented at the workplace violence prevention training upon hire and at every annual training thereafter. The notice must be in writing in English and in the language identified by each employee as their primary language.

Section 27(e)(5)

This section of the law, which goes into effect January 1, 2027, provides that employers with more than 500 retail employees nationwide must provide access to panic buttons at the workplace that immediately contact the local 911 public safety answering point to dispatch law enforcement. The law provides employers with a choice: either have stationary panic buttons throughout the workplace or provide all retail employees with wearable or mobile phone-based panic buttons. The law states that such panic buttons may not be used to track employee locations except when the panic button is pressed. If an employer chooses to utilize a mobile phone-based panic button, it must be installed on an employer-provided device. 

We recommend that employers take a close look at the DOL’s model policy and training, and ensure that any training and policies adopted are complaint with this new law.  One additional item to be aware of: the policy must be provided in the employee’s primary language.  We do not yet know in which languages the NY DOL’s model policy will be published.  Further, we will be monitoring any related guidance published by the NY DOL, in particular that which relates to the requirement to provide panic buttons to retail employees.

*Giro Maccheroni is a third-year law student at Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and was a summer associate in Littler’s New York City office in the summer of 2024. He is not admitted to the bar.