In an effort to provide additional safety and protection to retail workers in the state, the New York Retail Worker Safety Act went into effect on June 2nd, 2025. The law requires retail employers with 10 or more employees to take certain precautionary measures to reduce the risk of violence against employees, as well as additional safety measures.
The New York Retail Worker Safety Act currently applies to employers with at least 10 “retail employees” in New York State.
Covered employers must establish a retail workplace violence prevention policy, as well as conduct retail workplace violence prevention training.
Under this law, “retail employees” are defined as “those who work at a retail store”.
A “retail store” is considered “any store that sells goods directly to the public at retail”. It’s important to note that businesses that primarily sell food to be eaten on-site (restaurants, etc.), are NOT considered retail stores.
Examples include:
It’s important to note that the law counts employees that specifically work at a retail store. For instance, if an employer has 12 employees, but nine are retail employees while three provide marketing and administrative support, the employer is NOT covered by the law.
However, the employee count is not done on a “by-store” basis. Meaning if an employer has two stores with five employees in each store (10 total), they ARE covered by the law.
The law also applies to those who work INSIDE a retail store, but not FOR a retail store. For example, a cleaning service that cleans retail stores with 10 cleaners / employees, IS covered by the law.
Workplace violence under the New York Retail Worker Safety Act is defined as “any act or threat of physical violence or aggressive behavior that occurs at the workplace or during a worker’s regular duties”.
Examples include:
Parties that may be guilty of workplace violence include strangers, customers, current employees, past employees, or anyone with a personal relationship to an employee.
When establishing a policy, employers must meet specific requirements. The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) does offer a model policy, however.
If an employer decides to create their own policy, it must include:
Employers struggling to create a policy for their business may want to consider seeking help from a New York Employee Handbook Service.
Covered employers are required to provide an interactive prevention training to all employees upon hire.
Additionally, employers with 50 or more employees must repeat this training each year. Employers with fewer than 50 employees must repeat the training every two years.
The New York Department of Labor does provide a model training program; however, the model does not include store-specific information, and thus, must be reviewed by the employer to ensure it covers all of the requirements below.
Training must include instruction on the following topics:
Additionally, a written version of the interactive training must also be provided to employees each time training is completed.
Any time spent training must be considered “hours worked” and therefore, paid time.
Training is considered interactive if it requires input or interaction from the employee, and the person providing the training provides a response to that input or interaction.
Training does NOT need to be in-person to be considered interactive.
While there are no recordkeeping requirements under the New York Retail Worker Safety Act, the NYSDOL recommends keeping any records of workplace violence incident reports.
Before filing a complaint, employees should inform a manager or their employer of any possible violations of the law, and provide a reasonable opportunity to correct the violation.
If no corrective action is taken, and the employee still believes their employer is in violation of the law, they may file a complaint.
Complaints can be made online, via email, or by mail to the following address:
Safety, Health, and Essential Rights
1220 Washington Ave
Building 12, Room 169
Albany, NY 12226
Starting January 1st, 2027, new requirements will be implemented for retail employers with 500 or more employees in New York.
These updates include:
Businesses looking for help with New York Retail Worker Safety requirements, having trouble with employee handbooks and their safety policies, or who are struggling to administer the proper training, should seek assistance.
Such companies can have many resources, including unique model policies, training programs, and other HR Outsourcing Services.
Contact us today to learn more.