Expands the scope of duties for public employers to prevent workplace violence including additional training, the creation of incident logs, expanding inspections and providing the commissioner the ability to enforce such provisions to prevent workplace violence.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8223
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring employers to
develop and implement effective programs to prevent workplace violence
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 27-b of the labor law, as added by chapter 82 of
2 the laws of 2006, and paragraph a of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
3 351 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 27-b. Duty of public employers to develop and implement programs to
5 prevent workplace violence. 1. Purpose. The purpose of this section is
6 to ensure that the risk of workplace assaults and homicides is evaluated
7 by affected public employers and their employees and that such employers
8 design and implement workplace violence protection programs to prevent
9 and minimize the hazard of workplace violence to public employees.
10 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
11 a. "Employer" means: (1) the state; (2) a political subdivision of the
12 state; (3) a public authority, a public benefit corporation, or any
13 other governmental agency or instrumentality thereof; and (4) an author-
14 ized agency as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision ten of section
15 three hundred seventy-one of the social services law that accepts chil-
16 dren adjudicated delinquent under article three of the family court act.
17 b. "Employee" means a public employee working for an employer.
18 c. "Workplace" means any location away from an employee's domicile,
19 permanent or temporary, where an employee performs any work-related duty
20 in the course of [his or her] such employee's employment by an employer.
21 d. "Supervisor" means any person within an employer's organization who
22 has the authority to direct and control the work performance of an
23 employee, or who has the authority to take corrective action regarding
24 the violation of a law, rule or regulation to which an employee submits
25 written notice.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11730-01-5
A. 8223 2
1 e. "Retaliatory action" means the discharge, suspension, demotion,
2 penalization, or discrimination against any employee, or other adverse
3 employment action taken against an employee in the terms and conditions
4 of employment.
5 3. Risk evaluation and determination. Every employer shall evaluate
6 its workplace or workplaces to determine the presence of factors or
7 situations in such workplace or workplaces that might place employees at
8 risk of occupational assaults and homicides. Examples of such factors
9 shall include, but not limited to:
10 a. working in public settings (e.g., social services or other govern-
11 mental workers, police officers, firefighters, teachers, public trans-
12 portation drivers, health care workers, and service workers);
13 b. working late night or early morning hours;
14 c. exchanging money with the public;
15 d. working alone or in small numbers;
16 e. uncontrolled access to the workplace; [and]
17 f. areas of previous security problems;
18 g. guarding or maintaining property or possessions (e.g., maintenance
19 operations, security personnel);
20 h. abusive conduct or bullying in the workplace;
21 i. working with dangerous individuals;
22 j. working in private homes; and
23 k. working in high crime areas.
24 4. Written workplace violence prevention program. Every employer with
25 at least twenty full time permanent employees shall develop and imple-
26 ment a written workplace violence prevention program for its workplace
27 or workplaces that includes the following:
28 a. a list of the risk factors identified in subdivision three of this
29 section that are present in such workplace or workplaces;
30 b. the methods the employer will use to prevent incidents of occupa-
31 tional assaults and homicides at such workplace or workplaces, including
32 but not limited to the following:
33 (1) making high-risk areas more visible to more people;
34 (2) installing good external lighting;
35 (3) using drop safes or other methods to minimize cash on hand;
36 (4) posting signs stating that limited cash is on hand;
37 (5) providing training in conflict resolution and nonviolent self-de-
38 fense responses; [and]
39 (6) establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of
40 aggressive behavior, bullying, abusive conduct, occupational safety, and
41 health matters;
42 (7) increasing the number of staff on duty;
43 (8) providing body scanners;
44 (9) providing bullet-proof barriers or enclosures and metal detectors;
45 and
46 (10) providing personal alarm and general alarm systems with location
47 tracking abilities.
48 5. Employee information and training. a. Every employer with at least
49 twenty permanent full time employees shall make the written workplace
50 violence prevention program available, upon request, to its employees,
51 their designated representatives and the department.
52 b. Every employer shall provide its employees with the following
53 information and training on preventing and reporting workplace bullying
54 and abusive conduct and the risks of occupational assaults and homicides
55 in their workplace or workplaces at the time of their initial assignment
56 and annually thereafter:
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1 (1) employees shall be informed of the requirements of this section,
2 the risk factors in their workplace or workplaces, and the location and
3 availability of the written workplace violence prevention program
4 required by this section; [and]
5 (2) employee training shall include at least: (a) the measures employ-
6 ees can take to protect themselves from such risks, including specific
7 procedures the employer has implemented to protect employees, such as
8 appropriate work practices, emergency procedures, use of security alarms
9 and other devices, [and] (b) the details of the written workplace
10 violence prevention program developed by the employer, (c) how employ-
11 ees' concerns will be investigated and reported back to the employee as
12 part of the employers' responsibility, (d) how employees can obtain help
13 from staff assigned to respond to workplace emergencies, (e) provisions
14 designed to encourage employees to inform the employer of hazards at the
15 worksite without fear of retaliation, and (f) how to identify and report
16 incidents of workplace bullying and abusive conduct; and
17 (3) employers shall train all employees when the training program is
18 first established, all new employees, and train employees whenever new
19 substances, processes, procedures, or equipment are introduced to the
20 workplace and represent a new hazard, and whenever the employer receives
21 a notification of a new or previously unrecognized hazard.
22 6. [Application.] Incident log. The employer shall record information
23 in a violent incident log for every workplace violence incident. Such
24 incident log shall include but not be limited to:
25 a. the date, time, and location of the incident;
26 b. a detailed description of the incident;
27 c. a classification of who committed the violence;
28 d. consequences of the incident; and
29 e. information of the person completing the log, including such
30 person's name, title, and the date completed.
31 7. Record keeping. Records of each incident log shall be maintained
32 for a minimum of five years following the end of the calendar year.
33 8. Employee rights for records. All records required shall be made
34 available to employees and their representatives, as well as upon
35 request and without cost, for examination and copying within seven
36 calendar days of a request.
37 9. Employer record keeping requirements. Nothing contained herein
38 relieves an employer of the recordkeeping requirements pursuant to
39 section 801 of title twelve of the New York codes, rules and regu-
40 lations, as amended from time to time.
41 10. Inspections. a. Any employee or representative of employees who
42 believes that a serious violation of a workplace violence protection
43 program exists [or], that an imminent danger exists, or a violation of a
44 safety or health standard exists shall bring such matter to the atten-
45 tion of a supervisor in the form of a written notice and shall afford
46 the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct such activity, policy
47 or practice. The employer shall reply to an employee's report of work-
48 place violence within three weeks of the report. This referral shall not
49 apply where imminent danger or threat exists to the safety of a specific
50 employee or to the general health of a specific patient and the employee
51 reasonably believes in good faith that reporting to a supervisor would
52 not result in corrective action.
53 b. If following a referral of such matter to the employee's supervi-
54 sor's attention and after a reasonable opportunity to correct such
55 activity, policy or practice the matter has not been resolved and the
56 employee or representative of employees still believes that a violation
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1 of a workplace violence prevention program remains, or that an imminent
2 danger exists, such employee or representative of employees may request
3 an inspection by giving notice to the commissioner of such violation or
4 danger. Such notice and request shall be in writing, shall set forth
5 with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, shall be
6 signed by such employee or representative of employees, and a copy shall
7 be provided by the commissioner to the employer or the person in charge
8 no later than the time of inspection, except that on the request of the
9 person giving such notice, such person's name and the names of individ-
10 ual employees or representatives of employees shall be withheld. Such
11 inspection shall be made forthwith.
12 c. A representative of the employer and an authorized employee repre-
13 sentative shall be given the opportunity to accompany the commissioner
14 during an inspection for the purpose of aiding such inspection. Where
15 there is no authorized employee representative, the commissioner shall
16 consult with a reasonable number of employees concerning matters of
17 safety and health in the workplace.
18 d. The authority of the commissioner to inspect a premises pursuant to
19 such an employee complaint shall not be limited to the alleged violation
20 contained in such complaint. The commissioner may inspect any other area
21 of the premises [in which he or she] if such commissioner has reason to
22 believe that a serious violation of this section exists. No employee
23 who accompanies the commissioner on an inspection shall suffer any
24 reduction in wages.
25 e. No employer shall take retaliatory action against any employee
26 because the employee does any of the following:
27 (1) makes an application pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision;
28 (2) requests an inspection as authorized in paragraph b of this subdi-
29 vision;
30 (3) accompanies the commissioner as authorized in paragraph c of this
31 subdivision;
32 (4) participates in any required program area;
33 f. The commissioner may, upon [his or her] such commissioner's own
34 initiative, conduct an inspection of any premises occupied by an employ-
35 er if [he or she] such commissioner has reason to believe that a
36 violation of this section has occurred or if [he or she] such commis-
37 sioner has a general administrative plan for the enforcement of this
38 section, including a general schedule of inspections, which provide a
39 rational administrative basis for such inspecting. Within [one hundred
40 twenty] ninety days days of the effective date of this paragraph the
41 commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations implementing the
42 provisions of this section.
43 g. Any information obtained by the commissioner pursuant to this
44 subdivision shall be obtained with a minimum burden upon the employers.
45 h. When a request for an inspection has been made in a situation where
46 there is an allegation of an imminent danger such that an employee would
47 be subjecting [himself or herself] such employee to serious injury or
48 death because of the hazardous condition in the workplace, the
49 inspection shall be given the highest priority by the department and
50 shall be carried out immediately.
51 11. Enforcement procedures. a. If the commissioner determines that an
52 employer has violated a provision of this section, or a safety or health
53 standard or regulation promulgated pursuant to this section, such
54 commissioner shall with reasonable promptness issue to the employer an
55 order to comply which shall describe particularly the nature of the
56 violation including a reference to the provision of this section, stand-
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1 ard, regulation or order alleged to have been violated, shall fix a
2 reasonable time for compliance and may establish the penalty to be
3 assessed for failure to correct the violation by the time fixed for
4 compliance. An employer who fails to correct a non-serious violation by
5 the time fixed for compliance may be assessed a civil penalty of up to
6 fifty dollars per day until the violation is corrected. An employer who
7 fails to correct a serious violation by the time fixed for compliance
8 may be assessed a civil penalty of up to two hundred dollars per day
9 until the violation is corrected. The commissioner shall not assess a
10 penalty against an employer for failure to correct a violation of a
11 standard which is the subject of an application for a temporary order
12 granting a variance or a violation which is the subject of a petition to
13 modify an order to comply, provided however, that upon issuance by the
14 commissioner of a determination denying such variance or petition to
15 modify , or upon expiration of a temporary variance or modified compli-
16 ance period, the time fixed for compliance shall recommence and the
17 employer become liable for the penalties provided in this subdivision.
18 For the purposes of this subdivision, the terms "serious violation"
19 shall have the same meaning as such term is defined in subsection (k) of
20 section 666 of title 29 of the United States Code and "non-serious
21 violation" shall mean any violation that does not fall under the defi-
22 nition of a serious violation.
23 b. Where the commissioner issues to an employer an order to comply,
24 the employer shall post such order or a copy thereof in a conspicuous
25 place at or near each place of violation cited in the order, where it is
26 clearly visible to affected employees. The commissioner shall make such
27 order available to employee representatives.
28 c. Any employer, or other party affected by a determination of the
29 commissioner issued pursuant to this section may petition the industrial
30 board of appeals for review of such determination in accordance with
31 section one hundred one of this chapter. Judicial review of the decision
32 of the industrial board of appeals may be obtained by any party affected
33 by such decision by commencing a proceeding pursuant to article seven-
34 ty-eight of the civil practice law and rules within sixty days after
35 such decision is issued.
36 d. If the time for compliance with an order of the commissioner issued
37 pursuant to this section has elapsed, and the employer has not complied
38 with the provisions of the order, the commissioner shall seek judicial
39 enforcement of such order. Where an employer has complied with an order
40 in all respects other than the payment of a penalty imposed pursuant to
41 this subdivision, the commissioner may file with the county clerk of the
42 county where the employer has its place of business the order of the
43 commissioner continuing the amount of civil penalty found to be due. The
44 filing of such order shall have the full force and effect of a judgment
45 duly docketed in the office of such clerk. The order or decision may be
46 enforced by and in the same manner, and with like effect, as that
47 prescribed by the civil practice law and rules for the enforcement of a
48 money judgment.
49 12. Injunction proceedings. a. The supreme court of the state shall
50 have jurisdiction, upon petition of the commissioner, pursuant to the
51 civil practice law and rules to restrain any conditions or practices in
52 any place of employment which are such that a danger exists which could
53 reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm imme-
54 diately or before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated through
55 the abatement procedures otherwise provided for by this section. Such
56 proceeding shall be brought in the county in which the violation is
A. 8223 6
1 alleged to exist. Any order issued under this section may require such
2 steps to be taken as may be necessary to avoid, correct or remove such
3 imminent danger and prohibit the employment or presence of any individ-
4 ual in locations or under conditions where such imminent danger exists,
5 except individuals whose presence is necessary to avoid, correct, or
6 remove such imminent danger or to maintain the capacity of a continuous
7 process operation to resume normal operations without a complete cessa-
8 tion of operations, or where a cessation of operations is necessary, to
9 permit such to be accomplished in a safe and orderly manner. The employ-
10 er may contest such order pursuant to the civil practice law and rules.
11 b. Whenever and as soon as an inspector concludes that conditions or
12 practices described in paragraph a of this subdivision exist in any
13 place of employment, such inspector shall inform the affected employees
14 and employers of the danger and that such inspector is recommending to
15 the commissioner that relief be sought.
16 c. If the commissioner fails to seek relief under this section within
17 forty-eight hours of being notified of such condition, any employee who
18 may be injured by reason of such failure, or the authorized employee
19 representative of such employees, may seek injunctive relief as provided
20 in paragraph a of this subdivision.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
22 have become a law.
