New York’s new law on retail worker safety took effect last week. If your agency writes the Workers’ Compensation insurance for any small retail stores, you may want to point them to newly published materials from the state Labor Department.
Passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2024, the Retail Worker Safety Act took effect for most retail stores on June 2. It applies to all New York State employers who employ 10 or more employees to work in any store that sells goods directly to the public at retail. It does not apply to employers who primarily sell food to be eaten on-site. It also does not apply to service providers such as insurance agencies.
All covered employers must:
- Adopt a retail workplace violence prevention policy.
- Provide employees with retail workplace violence prevention training.
Employers with 500 or more retail employees in New York will be required to provide employees with silent response buttons to request security assistance. They will also be required to train employees in their use. This requirement takes effect on January 1, 2027.
The department has published resources to help employers comply:
The law does not require your insurance agency to do anything for compliance. However, it may apply to some of your business clients. It may be a helpful service to make those clients aware of the requirements and point them to the department’s resources.