§ 27-E — Prevention of retail workplace violence

§ 27-e. Prevention of retail workplace violence. 1. Definitions. For\nthe purposes of this section:\n a. "Employer" means any person, entity, business, corporation,\npartnership, limited liability company, or an association employing at\nleast ten retail employees. The term shall not include the state, any\npolitical subdivision of the state, a public authority, or any other\ngovernmental agency or instrumentality.\n b. "Retail employee" means an employee working at a retail store for\nan employer.\n c. "Workplace" means any location away from an employee's domicile,\npermanent or temporary, where an employee performs any work-related duty\nin the course of their employment by an employer.\n d. "Retail store" means a store that sells consumer commodities at\nretail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for\nconsumption on the premises.\n 2. Written workplace violence prevention policy. The department shall\ncreate and publish a model retail workplace violence prevention guidance\ndocument and retail workplace violence prevention policy that employers\nmay utilize in their adoption of a retail workplace violence prevention\npolicy required by this section. Such model retail workplace violence\nprevention policy shall be publicly available and posted on the website\nof the department.\n a. Such model retail workplace violence prevention policy shall:\n (i) outline a list of factors or situations in the workplace that\nmight place retail employees at risk of workplace violence, including\nbut not limited to:\n (A) working late night or early morning hours;\n (B) exchanging money with the public;\n (C) working alone or in small numbers; and\n (D) uncontrolled access to the workplace;\n (ii) outline methods that employers may use to prevent incidents of\nworkplace violence, including but not limited to establishing and\nimplementing reporting systems for incidents of workplace violence;\n (iii) include information concerning the federal and state statutory\nprovisions concerning violence against retail workers and remedies\navailable to victims of violence in the workplace and a statement that\nthere may be applicable local laws; and\n (iv) clearly state that retaliation against individuals who complain\nof workplace violence or the presence of factors or situations in the\nworkplace that might place retail employees at risk of workplace\nviolence, or who testify or assist in any proceeding under the law is\nunlawful.\n b. Every employer shall adopt the model retail workplace violence\nprevention policy promulgated pursuant to this subdivision, or establish\na workplace violence prevention policy that equals or exceeds the\nminimum standards provided by such model retail workplace violence\nprevention policy. Such retail workplace violence prevention policy\nshall be provided to all employees in writing upon hire and annually\nthereafter pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision four of this section.\n 3. Employee information and training. a. The department, in\nconsultation with relevant groups as deemed necessary by the department,\nshall produce a model workplace violence prevention training program.\nEvery employer shall utilize the model workplace violence prevention\ntraining program pursuant to this subdivision or establish a workplace\nviolence prevention training program that equals or exceeds the minimum\nstandards provided by such model training program. The department's\nmodel training program shall be interactive and shall include, but not\nbe limited to:\n (i) information on the requirements of this section;\n (ii) examples of measures retail employees can use to protect\nthemselves when faced with workplace violence from customers or other\ncoworkers;\n (iii) de-escalation tactics;\n (iv) active shooter drills;\n (v) emergency procedures; and\n (vi) instruction on the use of security alarms or buttons, and other\nrelated emergency devices.\n b. The department shall include information in such model workplace\nviolence prevention training program addressing conduct by supervisors\nand any additional responsibilities for such supervisors, including ways\nto address workplace specific emergency procedures, and training on\nareas of previous security problems.\n c. As part of this training, every employer shall communicate to each\nemployee a site-specific list of emergency exits and meeting places in\ncase of emergency. Such workplace violence prevention training shall be\nprovided to all retail employees upon hire and on an annual basis\nthereafter. Employers covered under this section employing fewer than\nfifty retail employees shall provide such workplace violence prevention\ntraining upon hire and once every two years thereafter.\n 4. Notice of policy. a. Every employer shall provide their retail\nemployees, in writing in English and in the language identified by each\nemployee as the primary language of such employee, at the time of hiring\nand at every annual workplace violence prevention training provided\npursuant to subdivision three of this section, a notice containing such\nemployer's retail workplace violence prevention policy and the\ninformation presented at such employer's workplace violence prevention\ntraining program.\n b. The commissioner shall prepare templates of the model retail\nworkplace violence prevention policy created and published pursuant to\nsubdivision two of this section and the model workplace violence\nprevention training program produced pursuant to subdivision three of\nthis section. The commissioner shall determine, in their discretion,\nwhich languages to provide in addition to English, based on the twelve\nmost common non-English languages spoken by limited-English proficient\nindividuals in the state, based on the data in the most recent American\nCommunity Survey published by the United States Census Bureau and\npublished online by the New York state office of language access.\n c. When an employee identifies as their primary language a language\nfor which a template is not available from the commissioner, the\nemployer shall comply with this subdivision by providing that employee\nan English-language notice.\n d. An employer shall not be penalized for errors or omissions in the\nnon-English portions of any notice provided by the commissioner.\n * 5. Retail worker requests for assistance. a. Every employer of five\nhundred or more retail employees statewide shall provide every retail\nemployee with a silent response button to request immediate assistance\nfrom a security officer, manager, or supervisor while the employee is\nworking at the employee's location in case of an emergency. Such silent\nresponse button may be a device that is installed in an easily\naccessible location in the workplace, or a wearable or mobile\nphone-based button.\n b. Mobile phone-based silent response buttons may only be installed on\nemployer-provided equipment, and wearable and mobile phone-based silent\nresponse buttons shall not be used to track employee locations except\nwhen the silent response button is triggered.\n * NB Effective January 1, 2027\n 6. Rules and regulations. The commissioner may adopt rules and\nregulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.\n 7. Evaluation of policy. Beginning in the year two thousand\ntwenty-seven and every succeeding four years thereafter, the department\nshall evaluate, using the criteria within this section, the impact of\nthe current model retail workplace violence prevention guidance document\nand retail workplace violence prevention policy. Upon the completion of\neach evaluation the department shall update the model retail workplace\nviolence prevention guidance document and retail workplace violence\nprevention policy as needed.\n