The Law and Recent Amendments

The New York Retail Worker Safety Act was first proposed in January 2024, and quickly garnered support in the state legislature. The original version of the act was signed into law by Governor Hochul on September 5, 2024, with an effective date set for March 4, 2025. However, an approval memo from the governor indicated that amendments were forthcoming. These amendments were proposed and signed into law on February 14, 2025, pushing the effective date to June 2, 2025.

Which Employers are Covered Under the Act?

The act applies to all employers with at least ten retail employees. The act defines a “retail employee” as an employee working at a “retail store” for an employer. A “retail store” is any store that sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises.

What is “Retail”?

While the basic concept of which employers are covered under the act seems straightforward, a primary concern for employers is determining whether their businesses qualify as “a store that sells consumer commodities at retail” and thereby falls under the law’s definition of a “retail store.” While there is no official guidance to help employers with this question, they can turn to other sources for insight. Employers can refer to their North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, where retail trade employers are classified with numbers beginning with 44 or 45. Employers can also look to the dictionary definitions of “commodity” and “retail.” A “commodity” is generally defined as a substance or product that can be traded, bought, or sold. “Retail” is generally defined as the activity of selling goods to the public, usually in small amounts, for their own use. Therefore, if an employer sells a tangible product to the general public as an end user, that employer may be covered under the act. Contrast this to another employer that sells a service or something nonphysical, or that sells products in larger amounts to other businesses or entities for resale.

Prevention Program Requirements

The new law requires employers to develop a written workplace violence prevention program that identifies factors and situations that place retail employees at risk. While much of this is left for the individual employer to determine, the law does provide some examples, including working late hours, exchanging money with the public, working alone, and having uncontrolled access to the workplace. According to the law, a workplace violence program must include prevention methods, a reporting system for incidents, information on resources for victims of workplace violence, and anti-retaliation language.

Training Requirements

The new law requires also employers to implement an interactive training program for their retail employees. According to the law, retailers must train their retail employees upon hire and annually thereafter, while retailers with fewer than 50 retail employees must train their employees once every two years. These trainings must cover various topics including protection from customer/coworker workplace violence, de-escalation tactics, active shooter drills, and emergency procedures. The trainings must also communicate a site-specific list of emergency exits and meeting places.

Silent Response Buttons

When first signed into law, the act required employers to implement panic buttons with which employees could directly and immediately contact law enforcement contact. However, the February 2025 amendment to the law changed this requirement, to replace the panic button requirement with a silent response button requirement. These buttons notify internal staff and quickly request assistance from on-site security officers, managers, or supervisors instead of off-site law enforcement. The goal with this change was to prevent overwhelming law enforcement with false alarms and ensure a more controlled response to potential incidents.

Notice Requirements

The new law requires employers to provide retail employees with a notice about the company’s workplace violence prevention program and information about training requirements. The law requires that this be in English and the employee’s primary language, if it is one of the 12 most common non-English languages spoken in New York State. If the primary language is not among these, the notice can be provided in English.

Next Steps

The New York Retail Worker Safety Act is intended to be a significant step towards ensuring the safety of retail employees. The new law and its amendments include several requirements on employers, including implementing a prevention program, a comprehensive training program, and silence response buttons. As the effective date approaches, retailers may want to be proactive and prepare to comply with the act’s provisions in advance of its June 2 effective date.