Enacts the Discount Retailer Workforce Safety and Retention Act

HB 585 enacts the Discount Retailer Workforce Safety and Retention Act by adding Part III to Chapter 3 of Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, creating new statutes R.S. 23:271 through 276. The legislation requires small box discount retail employers with fifteen or more employees to conduct workplace violence risk assessments and develop written workforce safety plans within six months. These plans must address specific safety measures including increased visibility in high-risk areas, external lighting installation, cash minimization strategies such as drop safes, signage indicating limited cash on hand, and workplace violence incident reporting systems. Additionally, employers must document all workplace violence incidents and conduct annual reviews of incident patterns. When an employer experiences two or more violent incidents at a single location within a year, the law mandates installation of easily accessible panic buttons throughout the workplace and reassessment of staffing levels during high-risk periods, potentially including dedicated safety personnel.

The legislation directly impacts small box discount retail employers, defined as businesses with five thousand to ten thousand square feet of floor space selling discounted consumer goods, excluding those with significant fresh food sections, pharmacies, fuel sales, or home improvement inventory. Employees at these locations gain substantive protections, including the right to seek emergency services or law enforcement assistance during workplace violence incidents without employer interference or retaliation. The law creates a private right of action allowing employees to sue employers for violations, with recovery including damages and reasonable attorney fees, with claims filed in the employee's home parish, the incident location's parish, or under standard venue rules. The legislation prohibits all retaliatory actions against employees who report workplace violence incidents in good faith, and employers must make their risk evaluations and safety plans available to employees, their representatives, the Louisiana Works Secretary, and the public upon request, with new employees receiving copies at hire.

The statute operates within Louisiana's broader employment law framework in Title 23 of the Revised Statutes and coordinates with existing Louisiana criminal law, specifically incorporating the definition of crimes of violence from R.S. 14:2(B) to define workplace violence. The legislation establishes an entirely new regulatory regime specific to this retail segment, creating affirmative employer obligations that go beyond general at-will employment principles and establish a statutory duty to provide workplace safety planning. The private right of action provision creates civil liability independent of criminal proceedings, allowing employees to seek monetary damages for employer non-compliance. The law functions as a mandatory safety standard applicable only to employers meeting the fifteen-employee threshold, narrowing its application to genuine small business operations while excluding very small retailers from its requirements.