On September 4, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York Retail Worker Safety Act (the “Act”) into law. The Act can be found here. The Act requires all employers in New York with 10 or more employees working at a retail store to prepare a workplace violence prevention plan by March 2025.
The Act defines retail employers as “any person, entity, business, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or an association employing at least ten retail employees… [at] a store that sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises.” These employers will need to have a written plan, along with corresponding training to be done at the time of hire and annually thereafter, to cover topics like risk factors, prevention, de-escalation, emergency procedures, etc. The plan will also need to be available for all employees and will need to be provided at the time of hire and annually thereafter in English and in the employee’s primary language if not English, and employers will need to maintain records related to workplace violence for at least 3 years.
Additionally, under the Act, any retail employers with 500 or more employees nationwide will be required to install panic buttons or provide access to panic buttons through mobile devices for any New York locations. The panic button requirement must be satisfied by January 1, 2027. The Act also provides specific requirements for the panic buttons, including where they should be located, how they should work, etc.
The Act tasks the New York Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) with preparing a model workplace violence prevention plan and corresponding training for employers to adopt if they wish. Employers may also prepare their own plans and trainings so long as they meet the requirements of the Act.
