Key Updates to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act
By: Charlotte Moriarty 2/2/25
Earlier, we reported that New York retail employers will soon be required to implement new workplace violence prevention measures under the Retail Worker Safety Act (“RWSA”). The law, enacted in September 2024, originally set its provisions to take effect on or about March 3, 2025. However, on February 14, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed an amendment that postpones the RWSA’s effective date and eases some of its requirements.
The RWSA requires New York employers with ten or more retail employees to develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention policy and accompanying workplace violence prevention training program, and to notify their employees of these initiatives. Employers now have until June 2, 2025 to satisfy these requirements.
As originally enacted, the RWSA required covered employers to provide the workplace violence prevention training to employees upon hire and annually thereafter. Under the recent amendments, only employers with 50 or more retail employees must provide the training upon hire and annually thereafter. Employers with fewer than 50 retail employees now only need to provide the workplace violence prevention training upon hire and every two years thereafter.
The RWSA directs the New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”) to issue model templates of workplace violence prevention policies and training. The recent amendments specify that the NYS DOL must issue these model templates in English and the twelve most common non-English languages spoken in New York. Employers have the option of adopting these model policies and training, or establishing their own which meet or exceed the requirements established in the state’s model.
The law originally required retail employers with 500 or more employees to install throughout their workplace “panic buttons” which, when triggered, would immediately contact 911 and dispatch local law enforcement. The 2025 amendments have replaced the words “panic buttons” with “silent response buttons,” which do not contact law enforcement but rather alert individuals such as the employers’ security officers, managers, and supervisors of the need for assistance relating to workplace violence. Further, the law originally obligated retail employers with 500 or more employees nationwide to install these buttons, but the amendments limit this requirement to employers with 500 or more employees in New York State. The January 1, 2027 effective date for this requirement remains unchanged.
As the June 2, 2025 effective date for most of the RWSA’s mandates quickly approaches, employers should take steps to ensure compliance now. If you have questions about the RWSA and workplace safety measures, please contact Chaim Book at cbook@booklawllp.com or Sheryl Galler at sgaller@booklawllp.com.
