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As we’ve mentioned before, retail, as an industry, experiences higher rates of workplace violence than most others. Policymakers, as a result, have sprung to action, writing new laws and regulations to ensure retail worker safety.
In fact, one state’s Retail Worker Safety Act comes online this month. What does the legislation do? Read on to find out.
New York Retail Worker Safety Act
Indeed, just this February, the Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, signed an amendment to that state’s Retail Worker Safety Act. The amendment extended the effective date of some of the Act’s provisions. But what does the New York Retail Worker Safety Act seek to accomplish in the first place?
The headline requirement is a mandate to all state retailers employing more than 10 workers to implement strategies to reduce the risk of workplace violence to those employees and increase their safety and wellbeing.
More specifically, covered retail employers must adopt the following two measures:
- Implement a retail workplace violence prevention policy
- Provide employees with retail workplace violence prevention training
In the following sections, we’ll tackle what each measure entails in practice.
Retail workplace violence prevention policy
To be compliant, covered retailers must establish their own workplace violence prevention policies, should those policies meet minimum legal requirements. Retailers can also adopt the State’s Model Retail Workplace Prevention Policy.
That policy includes the following provisions:
- A list 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
- Methods 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
- Information 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.
- A statement that retaliation against workers who complain about workplace violence, or situations that may give rise to workplace violence, is against the law
Elements of retail workplace violence prevention training
Another significant requirement of the Act is mandatory training for retail employees upon their hire. Employers with 50 or more retail workers have more extensive prevention training provisions, though. They have to provide that interactive training annually; meanwhile, those retailers with fewer employees only have to provide the training every two years.
What must the trainings include? Per the Act, trainings must include information and instruction on the following elements:
- Requirements of the Retail Worker Safety Act
- Measures retail workers can take to protect themselves when faced with workplace violence
- De-escalation tactics
- Active shooter events
- Emergency procedures, emergency exits, and meeting places in the event of an emergency
- How to use security alarms or buttons and other worksite-specific emergency devices
- Responsibilities of supervisors and managers before, during, and after emergency situations, including developing worksite-specific emergency procedures and training on areas of previous security problems
Finally, New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act might be coming online. But it’s not the only state facing an uptick in retail crime, particularly organized retail crime. What other measures can retailers implement to ensure the health and safety of their employees amid the crisis? We tackle the issue at length in our Workplace Violence Prevention Guide for Retailers.
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