12/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/09/2024 21:30
New York recently enacted the Retail Worker Safety Act (RWSA), which takes effect on March 4, 2025, requiring certain retail employers to develop and implement protocols aimed at preventing violence in the workplace. Among other things, employers will need to implement a violence prevention policy, inform employees of emergency procedures for situations like active shooters and train employees on de-escalation tactics.
The RWSA broadly defines a retail store as any store that "sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises" and applies to "any person, entity, business, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or […] association employing at least ten retail employees."
Under the RWSA, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has been tasked with developing a retail workplace violence prevention guidance document and a model retail workplace violence prevention policy. Employers will be able to adapt the model policy to their workplace or prepare their own policy using the guidance document. According to the law, the model policy will:
Employers are required to provide all new hires with a copy of their violence prevention policy and distribute it to all employees on an annual basis.
Employers not only need to prepare and distribute a workplace violence prevention policy, but they also must conduct violence prevention training with all new hires and annually thereafter. Like the model policy, the RWSA directs the NYSDOL to develop a model training program. Employers may utilize the model training program or establish their own training program as long as it meets or exceeds the minimum standards set forth by the NYSDOL. At a minimum, the trainings must be interactive and address:
In addition to the policy and training requirements applicable to retail employers with 10 or more employees, starting January 1, 2027, large retail employers - those with 500 or more employees nationwide - must also install panic buttons in easily accessible locations throughout the workplace. These panic buttons must be physical buttons that, when pressed, immediately contact local 911 operators to dispatch law enforcement to the workplace.
Alternatively, employers may elect to provide employees with wearable or cellphone-based panic buttons. If employers choose to utilize the phone-based panic button, each member of the staff must be provided with access to this technology, the panic button may only be installed on phones provided by the employer and employers are prohibited from using the panic button software to track employee locations except in the event of an emergency situation.
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A follow-up alert will be issued after the NYSDOL develops its guidance document, model policy and model training program. Further, as the deadlines for the new requirements of the RWSA approach, the New York team within BakerHostetler's Labor and Employment Practice Group will be available to help advise employers on compliance, policy drafting and training services.