What to know about New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act

New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act (RWSA) has officially been mandated after experiencing slight delays in its enactment. The act (S. 8358B/A. 8947C) was signed into law by local governor Kathy Hochul last year, to address increased levels of violence seen among retail stores.

From June 2, any store with 10 or more employees that “sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises” will be required to adopt and implement a violence prevention policy, train employees on de-escalation tactics and inform employees of emergency procedures for situations like active shooters.

The New York State Department of Labor has been tasked with developing a model risk assessment and training programme focused on de-escalation tactics and active shooter training. This is to be issued in English, as well as 12 commonly spoken languages.

Employers to provide standardised de-escalation and violence prevention training

This reflects an amendment made to the bill, which was initially slated to be mandated in March, however, was pushed back to reconsider the adoption of a violence prevention policy that was to be distributed to staff. Employers with less than 50 employees will now need to provide training on such matters at the time of hire and every two years following, instead of annually, as previously stated in the law.

Requirements will then expand by January 1, 2027, to require New York retailers with more than 500 employees to implement silent panic buttons that alert on-site management or security officers in place of law enforcement. Employers can only install the buttons on employer-provided equipment, and must not use the technology to track employee whereabouts unless in an emergency.

The RWSA was spearheaded by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSO), the president of which, Stuart Appelbaum, said retail workers across New York “will be safer because of this law”. His statement to FashionUnited continued: “Retail workers should not have to go to work every day in fear; and this law goes a long way towards ending that. The Retail Worker Safety Act provides for preventative measures that will help deter violence and harassment before it starts; and most importantly, will assist workers in getting help quickly in the event of an emergency.”