Overview

All employers with 10 or more retail employees must adopt a retail workplace violence prevention policy. Employers must either establish their own policy that meets the minimum legal requirements of the law, or adopt the ​New York State Department of Labor’s Model Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Policy.

Any employer wishing to develop their own policy must include​​:   

  1. ​​A l​​​ist of factors or situations that might place retail employees at risk of workplace violence, including but not limited to:  
    • working late night or early morning hours;  
    • exchanging money with the public;  
    • working alone or in small numbers;  
    • uncontrolled access into the workplace.
  2. ​​M​​​ethods ​the ​employer​​ may use to prevent incidents of workplace violence including, but not limited to, establishing and implementing systems for employees to report incidents of workplace violence.
  3. ​​I​​​nformation about federal and state laws concerning violence against retail workers, the remedies available to victims of workplace violence, and a statement that there may be applicable local laws concerning violence against retail workers.
  4. ​​A​​​ statement that retaliation against workers who complain about workplace violence, or situations that may give rise to workplace violence, is against the law.

Model Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Policy

​​​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.

​​​Reporting System​​

Retail employers in New York State who adopt the New York State Department of Labor’s Model Retail Workplace Violence Prevention Policy may choose to establish a clear, easy-to-use system for retail employees to report incidents of workplace violence. A reporting system is a recommended component of an effective workplace violence prevention program. It is ​a ​best practice for employers to develop a process to ensure that all workplace violence incidents are reviewed promptly by managerial staff.  

The New York State Department of Labor recommends that employers maintain a record of any reports of workplace violence they receive so that employers may evaluate and identify any trends in workplace violence incidents over time.