New York Workplace Violence Policy and Training for Retail Workers (6/2/25)

**On February 14, 2025, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an amendment to the Retail Worker Safety Act, which delays compliance obligations for policy, training, and notifications until June 2, 2025. **

Although later than anticipated, the New York State Legislature has just passed an amendment to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act that would extend the effective date of the act’s workplace violence prevention policy, training, and notice provisions from March 4 to June 2.

While this amendment still needs to be presented to Gov. Kathy Hochul to be signed into law, employers that are preparing for compliance can take note of the changes.

The amendment requires employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide to provide “silent response buttons” (SRBs) for internal alerts, adjusts training requirements for smaller employers, and mandates state model templates in multiple languages. (The effective date of the SRB requirement is still Jan. 1, 2027.)
Read the full article
Effective Date of the New York Retail Worker Safety Act Extended
Ogletree via SHRM | Feb 2025

Text of the amended measure

Amendments to The Retail Worker Safety Act

The amendments require employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide — rather than nationwide as originally required by the RSWA’s panic button requirement — to provide the silent response buttons for internal alerts.

The RWSA requires retailers to conduct workplace violence prevention training for employees upon hire and annually thereafter. Employers with fewer than fifty employees will get a reprieve on the annual training requirements. The amendments require employers with fewer than fifty retail employees to provide workplace violence training to retail employees upon hire and then once every two years thereafter.
New York Makes Key Changes to Retail Worker Safety Act: 5 Takeaways for Employers
Fisher Phillips | Feb 2025

The commissioner of the NY Department of Labor must prepare the model training policy and program in the 12 most common non-English languages in the state based on data from the United States Census Bureau. The commissioner may adopt rules and regulations interpreting this law.
New York Proposes Chapter Amendment to Retail Worker Safety Act, Including Sweeping Changes to the Panic Button Requirement
Littler | Feb 2025

New York Set to Amend Law Addressing Retail Employee Workplace Violence Prevention
Seyfarth | Feb 2025

Previous Developments

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.
New York Enacts Law Requiring Retail Employers to Implement Workplace Violence Prevention Training and Policies and Provide Panic Buttons
Littler | Sep 2024

Employers will also have to provide information and interactive training to employees on various workplace violence issues. These include “measures that retail employees can use to protect themselves when faced with workplace violence,” such as de-escalation tactics, active shooter drills, emergency procedures, security alarms, panic buttons, and other emergency devices. Employers will have to provide this training to each employee upon hire, and then at least annually thereafter.
New York’s Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Bill Signed Into Law by Governor Hochul
Ogletree | Sep 2024

Notably, the act requires the Department of Labor ("DOL") to create and publish a model retail workplace violence prevention guidance document and retail workplace violence prevention policy.
New York Retail Employers Must Implement Workplace Violence Prevention Policies and Annual Training Starting in March 2025
Davis Wright | Sep 2024

NY Retailers Must Implement Safety Measures to Combat Workplace Violence: 3 Steps to Compliance
Fisher Phillips | Sep 2024

What Responsibilities Do Employers Have Under New York State’s Retail Worker Safety Act?
Jackson Lewis | Sep 2024

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