Overview
The Retail Worker Safety Act (NYS Labor Law, Section 27-e) requires all employers who employ 10 or more retail employees in New York State to implement strategies to reduce the risk of workplace violence to their employees and increase employee safety. All employers covered by the Act must adopt a retail workplace violence prevention policy and provide their employees with retail workplace violence prevention training.
Starting January 1, 2027, all retail employers with 500 or more employees in New York State must:
Provide employees with a silent response button. This button must request immediate assistance from a security officer, manager, or supervisor in case of emergency.
Provide employees with training on the use of a silent response button.
Covered Retail Employers
The Retail Worker Safety Act applies to all New York State employers who employ 10 or more employees to work at a retail store (or stores). Retail stores include any store that sells goods directly to the public at retail. Retail stores do not include businesses that primarily sell food to be eaten on-site, such as restaurants.
Retail Worker Safety Act Frequently Asked Questions
Language Access and Translations
The New York State Department of Labor may provide additional translations of the model Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Policy and Training. Any future updates, including additional translations, will be posted to the website.
Employers must distribute their retail workplace violence prevention policy and a written retail workplace violence training in English and in an employee’s primary language, as indicated by the employee upon hiring, if it is one of the languages New York State Department of Labor has provided a translation of their model documents. If an employee’s primary language is not one of the languages for which the New York State Department of Labor has provided a translation, an employer can distribute the retail workplace violence prevention policy and the retail workplace violence prevention training in English. Employers who establish their own policy and training must have their policy and training template translated into their employees’ primary language if it is one of the languages for which the New York State Department of Labor has provided a translation.
Translations of the Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Policy and Training Text are available here:
File a Complaint
If you believe your employer is in violation of the Retail Workers Safety Act, you may file a complaint with the Safety, Health, and Essential Rights Program at the New York State Department of Labor. These complaints will be kept anonymous where feasible.
Online: You may file a complaint using the online portal here:
Email: You may file a complaint by emailing a completed SH550 to: [email protected]
Mail: You may mail a complaint by printing and mailing a completed SH550 to:
Safety, Health, and Essential Rights
1220 Washington Ave
Building 12, Room 169
Albany, NY 12226
Contact Us
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 518-457-3863
Employees have a right to file a complaint for violations of this law. These complaints will be kept anonymous to the extent possible.