Overview. On September 28, 2017, Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo, signed into law the "Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act" requiring employers with 18 or more employees to provide their employees with at least 3 days of paid sick or safe leave, increasing to 5 days by 2020.
Effective Date. The legislation takes effect July 1, 2018.
Details. Some highlights from the legislation are as follows:
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Paid sick and safe leave time may be used for an employee's or family member's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; and preventive medical care.
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Employees must accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick and safe leave time for every 35 hours worked, up to a maximum of 24 hours (increases to 32 hours in 2019, and 40 hours thereafter).
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Employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are presumed to work 40 hours per week for purposes of the Act, unless their normal work week is less than 40 hours.
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Employers must either permit employees to carry over their earned but unused paid sick and safe leave time to the following calendar year, or pay their employees for the unused time at the end of the year.
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"Family member" means a child, parent, spouse, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren or, domestic partner, sibling, care recipient, or member of the employee's household
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"Paid sick leave time" or "paid sick and safe leave time" means time that is compensated at the same hourly rate as the employee normally earns during hours worked.
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Employers that provide at least twenty-four (24) hours during calendar year 2018, thirty-two (32) hours during calendar year 2019 and forty (40) hours per calendar year thereafter of paid sick or safe leave or paid time off that can be used for the purposes consistent with this act at the beginning of each benefit year do not need to track accrual, allow any carry-over, or payout
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Paid sick and safe leave time as provided in this chapter shall begin to accrue at the commencement of employment or pursuant to the law's effective date, whichever is later.
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An employer may require a waiting period for newly hired employees of up to ninety (90) days. During this waiting period, an employee shall accrue earned sick time or the employer's policy but shall not be permitted to use the earned sick time until after he or she has completed the waiting period.
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Paid sick and safe leave time shall be carried over to the following calendar year; however, an employee's use of paid sick and safe leave time provided in each calendar year shall not exceed twenty-four (24) hours during calendar year 2018 and thirty-two 3 (32) hours during calendar year 2019 and forty (40) hours per year thereafter. Alternatively, in lieu of carryover of unused earned paid sick and safe leave time from one year to the next, an employer may pay an employee for unused earned paid sick and safe leave time at the end of a year and provide the employee with an amount of paid sick and safe leave that meets or exceeds the requirements that is available for the employee's immediate use at the beginning of the subsequent year.
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For paid sick and safe leave time of more than three (3) consecutive work days, an employer may require reasonable documentation.
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Documentation signed by a health care professional indicating that paid sick leave time is necessary shall be considered reasonable documentation.
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No municipality shall establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to provide benefits in excess of those required under this chapter, including paid sick and safe leave to its employees, other than the paid sick and safe leave requirements provided by this chapter, or to apply sick and safe leave policies to statutorily exempt employees and workers.
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The department shall develop and implement a multilingual outreach program to inform employers, employees, parents, and persons who are under the care of a health care provider about the availability of paid sick and safe leave time under this chapter. This program shall include the distribution of notices and other written materials in English and in all languages spoken by more than five percent (5%) of Rhode Island's population and any language deemed appropriate by the department to all child care and elder care providers, domestic violence shelters or victim services organizations, schools, hospitals, community health centers, and other health care providers.
Call to Action. Employers with employees in Rhode Island should prepare to provide paid time off for sick reasons covered by this law, and begin tracking accrual on January 1, 2018.