New York Legislature to Consider Amendment to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act

Quick Hits

• The New York governor’s office is discussing with the state legislature a possible amendment to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act, and it is anticipated that the legislature will vote on potential amendments in January 2025.
• Anticipated amendments include reducing the frequency of workplace violence training for employers with fewer than fifty employees, issuing training templates in English and the twelve most common non-English languages in New York, and replacing the term “Panic Button” with “Retail Worker Requests for Assistance.”
• The act is effective March 3, 2025, but the proposed amendment would move the effective date to June 2, 2025.

The proposed amendment would modify the following provisions of the act:

• Covered employers with fewer than fifty retail employees would only need to provide workplace violence training to their retail employees upon hiring and then every two years thereafter (as opposed to annually under the current law).
• The model templates provided by New York State would be issued in English and now only the twelve most common non-English languages spoken in New York.
• The term “Panic Button” would no longer be used in the act and would be removed from the definitions. The “Panic Button” section would be entitled “Retail Worker Requests for Assistance.”
• The Retail Worker Requests for Assistance section would only apply to employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide (as opposed to nationwide under the current act).
• In place of panic buttons, employers required to comply with the Retail Worker Requests for Assistance section would have to provide retail employees with access to “silent response buttons” (SRBs). SRBs must request immediate assistance from a security officer, manager, or supervisor while the employee is working at the employee’s location. As with panic buttons, SRBs may be a device installed in an easily accessible location within the workplace or a wearable or mobile phone-based button.
• The compliance date for the majority of the provisions under the amended act would be moved from 180 days after it was signed into law to 270 days. The new effective date would therefore be June 2, 2025. The SRB requirement will still go into effect on January 1, 2027.

The majority of the changes under the proposed amendment would apply to the panic button requirements, the most controversial section within the act.

It is important to keep in mind that the act as signed on September 4, 2024, is still the current law. The proposed amendment is still under development and there may be some additional changes. The amendment would not be effective unless and until it is passed by the legislature when the next session begins in January 2025. Although the possible changes are still under discussion, employers may nevertheless want to consider getting into compliance before the current effective date of March 3, 2025.

As the 180-day compliance deadline approaches, Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the New York and Workplace Safety and Health blogs as additional information becomes available.

Additionally, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal provides subscribers with timely updates on workplace violence prevention requirements, including those in New York. Premium-level subscribers have access to our New York Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Template Package, which includes a model policy, training, hazard assessment, notice, and more.

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