By: Ty Hyderally, Esq., Francine Foner, Esq. and Kenny Delgado

October 8, 2024

The most vulnerable retail employees are those that are the most forward facing. Those workers often have to represent their employer in the face of belligerence and unsafe situations. New York recently took steps towards protecting its front-line retail workers by passing the Retail Worker Safety Act (the “Act”), which will go into effect on March 3, 2025. The Act seeks to combat workplace violence for retail employees who are often exposed to unsafe situations through interactions with customers, the handling of money, and late nights or early mornings when there may be no other individuals present.  The Act’s protection covers retail employees working for retailers who do not primarily engage in the sale of food for consumption on the premises and employ at least 10 retail employees.

The Act mandates covered employers to implement several requirements which are aimed at protecting front-line retail workers, including:

• mandatory notice and disclosure requirements regarding unsafe environments;
• Annual evaluation of the effectiveness of security measures based on the number of incidents that have occurred;
• For companies employing more than 50 employees, installation of panic buttons, which are buttons that must be physically present in an easily accessible location at the workplace that will immediately dispatch law enforcement to the workplace;
• Employing security guards for locations which have a history of violent workplace incidents; and
• Holding annual meetings with employees to review their rights under the Act.

The Act also compels the New York Department of Labor to create model policy and training to implement the Act, including policies for reporting incidents and employee concerns, which will be evaluated and updated every four years.

The Act also mandates retail violence prevention training at the time of hire and annually thereafter, which must be interactive, include information on the Act and provide methods that employees can use to protect themselves from customers and coworkers. The training must also include active shooter drills, emergency protocols and instruction on using structural security devices, such as alarms. These trainings will follow model training programs which will roll out when the Act goes into effect.

With the passage of this new legislation, New York has taken a significant and welcome step towards protecting its front-line retail employees from unsafe work situations that arise due to the nature of their positions.

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