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Rhode Island Paid Sick & Safe Leave is Headed to a Worksite Near You

05/03/18

Author: ADP Admin/Tuesday, May 1, 2018/Categories: Compliance Corner , Rhode Island

Rhode Island has joined the growing list of states and municipalities that have enacted paid sick leave laws. The new law takes effect July 1, 2018.

Covered Employers, Employees, and Relations
In accordance with the Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act (“Act”), Rhode Island employers with at least 18 employees must provide their employees with paid sick leave. Employers with fewer than 18 employees are not required to provide paid time off, but they cannot take an adverse action against an employee based solely on an employee’s use of paid sick time up to the maximum accrual allowed under the Act.

The law generally covers all employees, except: (1) individuals not considered employees under the Rhode Island Minimum Wage Act (e.g., outside salespeople, golf caddies, certain seasonal resort employees); (2) independent contractors; (3) subcontractors; (4) federal work-study participants; and (5) licensed nurses employed by a health care facility on a per diem basis.

Reasons for Leave
Covered employers must allow employees to use paid sick time for the following reasons:
  • Mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of an employee or covered relation
  • Medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of an employee or covered relation
  • Preventive medical care for an employee or covered relation
  • Leave related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking impacting an employee or covered relation
  • 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 relation's presence in the community may jeopardize others' health because of the individual's exposure to a communicable disease, whether or not the employee or covered relation has actually contracted the communicable disease
Employees decide how much leave they need to use, unless this conflicts with state or federal law. However, an employer may set a minimum increment for leave use that cannot exceed four hours per day, and must be reasonable under the circumstances.

Accrual
The amount of paid sick time an employee can accrue will be phased in over a three-year period. Employees will accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours worked, up to a maximum of 24 hours during calendar year 2018. The maximum accrual increases to 32 hours during calendar year 2019 and to 40 hours each year thereafter. The Act also provides a lump sum alternative to tracking accruals.

Existing Policies, Lump Sum
Employers whose paid time off policies meet the amount and other requirements of the Act (including the reasons for which time off may be used) are not required to provide additional paid time off, as long as the policies make clear that additional time will not be provided.

Further, employers that provide a lump sum amount of paid time off at the start of each benefit year equivalent to the accrual amount required under the Act do not need to track accrual, allow carry-over, or pay out upon termination.

Coverage: Employers with employees who work in Rhode Island.

Effective: July 1, 2018

Action Required: Guidance interpreting the Act has not yet been issued. Once guidance is issued on the law’s interpretation, our Sick Leave Toolkit, which includes Frequently Asked Questions and model sick leave policies for jurisdictions with sick leave laws, will be updated to include Rhode Island’s new law. The updated Toolkit will be available on FormSource in the Leave and Return to Work section or in your Forms Library, as applicable.
As always, please be sure to contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions.

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