Rhode Island Passes Paid Sick Leave Law with Posting Requirement

Rhode Island passed a new paid sick leave law in September, the Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act, which goes into effect July 1, 2018.

The new law applies to employers with 18 or more employees. It requires employers to allow employees to accrue and use paid sick and safe leave time for the employees, themselves, as well as to assist family members.

The sick leave includes time off for the following purposes:

• Mental or physical illness, injury or health condition
• Medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition
• Preventive medical care
• Leave related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
• Closure of the employee’s place of business, or a child’s school or place of care, by order of a public official due to a public health emergency
• Health authorities or a health care provider determines the employee or covered family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize others’ health because of the individual’s exposure to a communicable disease, whether the employee or covered family member has contracted the communicable disease

The law requires employers to give employees one leave hour for every 35 hours worked. Employees may use up to (but not more than) 24 hours of leave in 2018, 32 hours in 2019 and 40 each following year.

New employees will have a 90-day waiting period before they can use paid sick leave.

The paid sick leave law itself does not require a labor law posting. However, the law does state that the posting requirements need to be in accordance with the Rhode Island minimum wage law. Meaning, the posting requirements of the Rhode Island minimum wage law apply to the new paid sick leave law as well. The Rhode Island minimum wage law has a required posting. Therefore, it is necessary to display the posting for the paid sick leave law as well.

GovDocs Customers

GovDocs will offer this posting once the requirements are released closer to July 1, 2018.