Updated February 20, 2025
What is the New York Retail Worker Safety Act?
Effective June 2, 2025, the New York Retail Worker Safety Act (S8358B/A8947C) requires all retailers with 10 or more employees to:
- Conduct a risk evaluation by examining the workplace for potential hazards related to workplace violence
- Develop, implement, and maintain a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan that:
- Identifies potential risks
- Explains reporting procedures for identifying risks, and incidents
- Explains prevention procedures
- Describes emergency procedures, emergency exits, and meeting places
- In addition to training on the organization’s Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, employers need to provide interactive workplace violence prevention training on concerning behaviors; what to do if an act of extreme violence, like an active shooter, occurs; and verbal de-escalation strategies
- Employers with 50 or more employees need to provide workplace violence prevention training upon hire and annually
- Employers with fewer than 50 retail employees need to provide workplace violence prevention training upon hire and every two years
Who is Impacted?
The Retail Worker Safety Act applies to retail establishments selling consumer goods, such as:
- Clothing and accessory stores
- Electronics and appliance retailers
- Home goods and furniture stores
- Pharmacies and specialty retail outlets
Businesses primarily focused on selling food for on-premise consumption (restaurants) are exempt from the mandate.
What are the Requirements?
By June 2, 2025 employers need to provide:
- Written workplace violence prevention policies that address workplace violence risk factors and prevention methods
- A written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan
- Store-specific training on the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, active shooter drills, and emergency procedures
- Information and interactive training for employees on various workplace violence issues and strategies that employees can use to protect themselves, including de-escalation tactics and how to stay safe during an act of violence
By January 1, 2027, employers with 500 or more retail employees across the state need to provide access to Silent Response Buttons which alert internal staff (supervisors, managers, Security) of an emergency.
RECOMMENDED TRAINING
Atana's Getting Real About Workplace Violence course and accompanying resources will help you meet the mandate with an approach that raises awareness of concerning behaviors and builds skills on how to bring concerns forward when necessary. It covers extreme violence situations in a way that makes people mindful, not fearful. A New York version of the course is coming soon. Contact us to learn how we can help your organization achieve compliance without any complex implementation or disruption to your operations.
