On February 14, 2025, the New York Retail Worker Safety Act, initially set to take effect March 4, 2025, was amended (S.B.740), and the new effective date moved to June 2, 2025.

Background

On September 4, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York Retail Worker Safety Act (the Act) (S.B. 8358-C/A. 8947-C) into law. The Act, which adds Section 27-e to the New York Labor Law, requires employers with ten or more retail employees to develop and implement workplace violence prevention programs. The law also mandates employers provide training on the workplace violence programs and to install silent response buttons (SRBs) in retail stores, defined as stores that sell “consumer commodities at retail and not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on its premises.”

New York joins a broader trend of state legislatures enacting laws to address growing concerns of workplace violence, driven by the rise in mass shootings, and, in the retail sector, large-scale, coordinated shoplifting and increasing confrontations and violence against retail workers. For example, on July 1, 2024, California’s Workplace Violence Prevent Act, which we previously covered here, went into effect and applies broadly to most private-sector California employers with additional requirements for healthcare facilities and other industries with a high risk of workplace violence. Notably, other states have workplace prevention laws, though many are specifically focused on the healthcare sector, such as hospitals.

Key Requirements of the New York Retail Worker Safety Act (Incorporating the 2025 Amendments)

Workplace Violence Prevention Programs

In New York, retail employers must develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence by either:

• adopting the model workplace violence prevention program, which the New York Department of Labor (NY DOL) has been instructed to develop, and which is anticipated to be released in advance of the employer implementation deadline; or
• establishing a workplace violence prevention program that meets or exceeds the NY DOL’s minimum standards.

Retail Worker Safety Training & Policy

Retail employers must provide their workplace violence prevention policy to retail employees in writing at the time of hire. Training can be conducted using either the model training program to be developed by the NY DOL, or by a customized program that meets or exceeds the NY DOL’s minimum standards. The training must be interactive and include:

• examples of measures retail employees can use to protect themselves when faced with workplace violence from customers or other coworkers;
• de-escalation tactics;
• active shooter drills;
• emergency procedures; and
• instruction on the use of security alarms or buttons and other related emergency devices.

Training requirements are specified and vary in accordance with employer size. Specifically, as amended, the Act requires:

• smaller retail employers – those with between 10 and 49 employees – to provide training at the time of hire and then every two (2) years thereafter; and
• larger retail employers with 50 or more employees to provide the training at the time of hire and annually thereafter.

The model policy is expected to identify certain risk factors for workplace violence, including:

• working late night or early morning hours,
• exchanging money with the public,
• working alone or in small numbers, and
• permitting uncontrolled access to the workplace.

The NY DOL will issue its model policies and training materials in English and the 12 most common non-English languages spoken in New York, as based on U.S. Census Bureau data. 

Silent Response Buttons

Among the amendments to Act, the requirement for panic buttons alerting law enforcement has been replaced with silent response buttons (SRBs). But only large retail employers with 500 or more employees statewide must provide employees with SRBs to request immediate assistance from security officers, managers, or supervisors during emergencies. The SRBs may be:

• installed in an easily accessible workplace location, or
• a wearable or mobile phone-based button.

Employers should note that the compliance deadline for SRBs remains January 1, 2027.