EXPLAINER
New York Retail Worker Safety Act, in plain English
Last reviewed: June 2026 — NY DOL model policy/training were still awaited as of reporting; confirm the latest before relying on specifics.
Most safety laws ask employers to be ready in general terms. New York’s retail law is unusually specific: large retailers will have to put a silent way to summon help in every worker’s hands. Here’s what it requires, who it covers, when, and where Share911 fits — which, for this one, is unusually direct. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
What it is
The Retail Worker Safety Act (RWSA), added to New York Labor Law, was signed in September 2024 and amended in February 2025. It requires retail employers to put a workplace violence prevention program in place — a written policy, training, and notice to employees — and requires large retailers to give workers a silent way to call for help.
Two clocks — what’s due, and when
The law runs on two separate timelines:
Now (in force since June 2, 2025): the written workplace violence prevention policy, the training, and the employee notice.
January 1, 2027: the “silent response button” requirement for large retailers.
The amendment pushed the policy/training date back to June 2025 but left the button date at January 1, 2027.
Who it covers
Policy, training, notice: any retail employer with at least 10 retail employees in New York. A “retail store” sells consumer goods to the public and isn’t primarily a place to eat on-site.
Silent response button: only employers with 500 or more retail employees statewide (the amendment narrowed this from “nationwide”).
What employers must do
Write and adopt a workplace violence prevention policy — using the NY DOL model (when released) or a compliant custom version.
Train employees — on hire and annually; employers with fewer than 50 retail employees train on hire and every two years.
Give notice — provide the policy and training information to employees, in English and, where applicable, among the most common non-English languages spoken in the state.
Provide silent response buttons (large retailers, from Jan 1, 2027) — see below.
The change that matters: panic button → silent response button
This is the most misunderstood part of the law, and it changes how the technology is positioned.
The original law required a true panic button — one that immediately contacted 911, passed the worker’s location to dispatch, and sent law enforcement to the store.
The 2025 amendment replaced that with a silent response button that requests immediate assistance from someone internal — a security officer, manager, or supervisor — rather than alerting law enforcement. The aim was to avoid flooding 911 with false alarms and keep the response controlled.
The button is format-flexible: it can be a device installed in an accessible spot, a wearable, or a mobile-phone-based button (mobile only on employer-provided equipment).
The privacy provision — read this twice
Wearable and mobile silent response buttons may not track an employee’s location except when the button is triggered. This is expected to shape how retailers evaluate safety-technology vendors: any always-on location tracking is a problem. A tool that only uses location at the moment of an alert is on the right side of it.
Where Share911 fits
This is the most direct fit of any law on this list: what the RWSA will require of large NY retailers — a silent, internal request for immediate help, available as a mobile, wearable, or fixed trigger — is essentially what Share911 does.
It can be the silent response button. Share911 lets a worker silently summon assistance from the people the law names — security, managers, supervisors — from wherever they’re standing, in the format that fits the store.
It supports the rest of the program. The required policy has to include ways to report incidents and a record of what happened. Share911 provides the reporting path and a timestamped after-action report of every alert and response.
It does more than the law requires. The amended law deliberately stops at internal response. Share911 also enables the multi-agency coordination responders value — available when you want it, without making 911 the default trigger the amendment moved away from.
As always: Share911 supports the law’s requirements and can serve as the required button, but it doesn’t write your policy, deliver your training, or make a retailer “compliant” on its own.
Verify the requirements
This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. The authoritative materials:
NY Department of Labor — the model policy, training, and forthcoming guidance.
The statute — New York Labor Law, Retail Worker Safety Act provisions (as amended Feb 2025).
Your employment counsel — for how the law applies to your stores and headcount.
Share911 supports your emergency response. It does not replace it. In an emergency, always call 911.