What Do Employers Need To Know About New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act?

What Do Employers Need To Know About New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act?

New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act, which goes into effect on June 2, 2025, is one of the most expansive workplace violence prevention laws for retailers in the U.S. Like the California Workplace Violence Prevention Act, the New York law was passed in response to growing concerns about workplace violence, including homicides and intimidating conduct.

The Retail Worker Safety Act applies to employers with 10 or more retail employees. The law defines a retail employee as one who works in a store that “sells consumer commodities at retail and is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises.”

The Act further requires employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide to provide access to silent response buttons that request immediate assistance from a security officer, manager, or supervisor in case of an emergency. The silent response button requirement is the first of its kind in the U.S. for retail workers, and that section of the law goes into effect on January 1, 2027.

Covered employers must establish a workplace violence prevention policy. A compliant policy must:

• Outline a list of factors or situations that might place employees at risk of workplace violence;
• Outline methods to be used to prevent workplace violence incidents, including reporting systems for such incidents;
• Include information about the various laws that address violence against retail workers and the available remedies; and
• Enumerate protections against retaliation for employees who engage in protected activity concerning a workplace violence issue.

It is recommended that covered employers conduct a hazard assessment at each worksite, as a one-size-fits-all approach likely won’t pass muster under the New York law. In preparing a policy, the law is clear that employers should consider and outline factors that may place retail employees at risk of workplace violence, including, for example:

• If employees work late at night or early in the morning,
• If employees exchange money with the public,
• If employees work alone or in small numbers, or
• If there is uncontrolled access to the workplace.

This law also requires the implementation of a workplace violence prevention training program. All new hires must be trained. Thereafter, employers with 50 or more employees must train on an annual basis and employers with fewer than 50 employees must train every two years. This training must 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.

Although the scope of California’s and New York’s workplace violence prevention laws is considerably different, the implementation of these laws demonstrates a trend that we anticipate may continue to spread throughout the country in a variety of sectors.

For assistance drafting your workplace violence prevention policy and developing training to comply with the New York legislation, please contact your Littler counsel.