Does buying this make my business compliant?
No. This delivers the interactive training content and records who completed it. You still have to adopt your own written retail workplace violence prevention policy and give it to every employee on hire and annually after that; supply your store-specific information, which is the list above; schedule the training during paid work time; and keep the right cadence for your headcount. The course teaches your staff to go looking for those things. It cannot supply them for your stores, and it does not pretend to.
Does this course need to be approved or registered with New York?
No, and this is the question we get most. Section 27-e lets an employer use the NYSDOL model training program or its own interactive program that equals or exceeds the model’s minimum standards. There is no state provider registration or approval scheme to be listed on. This course is written to those minimum standards and is interactive rather than passive playback. Read the module list and decide for yourself whether it meets them for your workplace.
How often must my employees take this?
Initial training when they are hired, then on a cycle that depends on your size. If you have 50 or more retail employees in New York, it repeats annually. If you have 10 to 49, it repeats every two years. Separately from the training cycle, the written policy goes to every employee on hire and annually regardless of which cadence applies to you — that one does not switch to every two years. Training must be scheduled during paid work time. The completion record is dated so you can track whichever cycle you are on.
Does the ten-employee threshold apply per store?
No. It is counted statewide across all of your New York locations. Two stores with six employees each is twelve, not two sets of six, and you are over the line. This is the single most common misreading of the Act and it is worth checking your own payroll against before you decide you are out of scope.
Do I need the silent response button?
Only if you have 500 or more retail employees in New York, and only from January 1, 2027. It is not a general requirement and most buyers of this course will not be in scope for it. The course covers it in module 4 so that staff at larger employers know what the device is and how it differs from calling for help, and so smaller employers can see plainly that it does not apply to them.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is training. It explains the standard and how coverage, prevention, de-escalation, reporting, emergency response and supervisor duties are supposed to work in general terms. It does not decide any individual situation and it is not a substitute for a lawyer or a safety professional when you have a live problem.
Is the course available in Spanish?
Yes. The Spanish version is a full version, not subtitles bolted onto an English video: Spanish narration, Spanish video, Spanish captions and Spanish transcripts. Learners pick their language and their completion record is the same either way. Section 27-e also expects written training materials in an employee’s primary language where NYSDOL has published a model translation for it, so check the current NYSDOL list before each assignment — what is available there changes.
What counts as a retail store?
A store that sells consumer goods directly to the public. A business that primarily sells food for consumption on the premises is not a retail store for this purpose, and government employers are excluded. If you sell goods and also run a café inside the shop, the question is what the business primarily does, and it is your call to make and document.
Do on-site workers employed by another company need it?
They can be covered even though they are on someone else’s payroll. If people work in your retail space under another company’s employment, sort out in advance who is assigning their training rather than both of you assuming the other did it.
Can an employee be punished for reporting something?
No, and the statute requires your written policy to say so. Retaliation against an employee for reporting a workplace violence concern in good faith is prohibited. The course tells learners this directly, including that the ban still applies when the report turns out to be mistaken, and points them at a second reporting route for when the concern involves their normal contact.
What happens if someone fails the final exam?
They retake it. Every attempt draws a new set of questions from the bank, so a retake is a real re-test.
Can I buy seats for my team?
Yes. Five-seat and ten-seat bundles are on this page, and there is an enterprise option for larger headcounts.