New York State Legislature Passes Amendment to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act

Quick Hits

• The New York State Legislature has passed an amendment to the New York Retail Worker Safety Act that extends the effective date for workplace violence prevention policies, training, and notice provisions from March 4, 2025, to June 2, 2025.
• The amendment requires employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide toprovide “silent response buttons” (SRBs) for internal alerts, adjusts training requirements for smaller employers, and mandates state model templates in multiple languages. (The effective date of the SRB requirement is still January 1, 2027.)

The amendment also modifies the following other provisions of the act:

• “Panic Buttons” that would alert law enforcement are now replaced with “silent response buttons” (SRBs) that alert internal staff (security officers, managers, or supervisors).

• SRBs are now required for employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide rather than nationwide.

• Employers with fewer than fifty retail employees now only need to provide workplace violence training to their retail employees upon hire, and then every other year, rather than annually.

• New York State model templates will now be issued in English and the twelve most common non-English languages spoken in New York (as determined by data published by the United States Census Bureau).

With the previous effective date right around the corner, this amendment, along with the extension to the compliance date to June 2, 2025, can be a breath of fresh air for employers still working on their workplace violence policies and training programs. The amendment has not changed the effective date for the SRB requirement, which remains January 1, 2027.

Because Governor Hochul was actively involved in advancing the Retail Worker Safety Act and its amendment, it is anticipated that she will sign the amendment into law.

Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and provide updates on the New York, Retail, and Workplace Violence Prevention blogs as additional information becomes available.

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