Rhode Island recently passed the Temporary Caregiver Insurance law which amended its Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program to provide employees with an additional leave benefit and wage replacement benefits during that leave. The law has two main components. First, all Rhode Island employers are required to provide at least four weeks of job-protected leave per year to employees to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent, or to bond with a newborn, adopted or foster child. Second, employees are eligible to receive payments through the TDI program while on leave. Rhode Island will join California and New Jersey as the only states that allow employees to receive state-sponsored short-term disability benefits even if the employee is not personally disabled.
Articles About Rhode Island Labor And Employment Law
Rhode Island Enacts “Ban the Box” Law Prohibiting Employment Application Criminal History Inquiries Until the First Job Interview
Effective January 1, 2014, a recent amendment to Rhode Island law will restrict the timing of pre-employment inquiries by Rhode Island employers about a job applicant’s criminal past. Employers who are covered by the law may not inquire about an applicant’s prior criminal history until during or after the first interview with the applicant.
Rhode Island Becomes First State to Require Flu Shots of All Health Care Workers
The Rhode Island Department of Health now requires seasonal flu vaccines for all health care workers, including volunteers, who have direct patient contact. Health care workers may obtain a medical exemption from the requirement. Health care workers also may refuse to be vaccinated, but they must provide written notice of their refusal to their employer prior to December 15th of each year. However, during any declared period of widespread flu outbreak, unvaccinated workers must wear surgical facemasks whenever they have direct patient contact, or face a fine. The Service Employees International Union New England, No. 1199, which represents health care workers in Rhode Island, has objected to the new vaccination requirement as a violation of the rights of providers and is considering whether to challenge it.
Rhode Island Minimum Wage to Increase in 2013
Rhode Islandβs minimum wage will be $7.75 an hour, an increase of 35 cents over the current rate, beginning January 1, 2013. The legislation (2012-H 7396A) was signed by Governor Lincoln Chafee on June 20, 2012. This will be the first minimum wage hike in the Ocean State since 2007. Approximately 10,000 people make the minimum wage in Rhode Island, according to state labor numbers.