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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
In addition to the federal FMLA, Rhode Island employers need to be aware of state provisions, such as Rhode Island parental and family medical leave, paid sick leave (Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act), school involvement leave, family military leave, temporary caregiver leave, and pregnancy accommodations.
Parental and Family Medical Leave
The Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act applies to private employers with 50 or more employees, local governments or agencies with 30 or more employees, and all state government employers. The FMLA only applies to employers with 50 or more employees. There is also a worksite provision under the federal law.
Employee eligibility
Any full-time employee working an average of 30 or more hours per week for 12 consecutive months (1,560 hours) is eligible for leave under Rhode Island’s provisions.
In contrast, the FMLA requires that employees work at least 12 months and 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave.
Leave entitlement
An eligible employee is entitled to 13 weeks of unpaid parental or family leave in any two calendar years.
Reasons for leave
Rhode Island allows for both parental and family leave. Under the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act, “family leave” means leave by reason of the serious illness of a family member.
Family members include a parent, spouse, child, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or the employee himself or herself. For state employees, this also includes domestic partners.
“Parental leave” means leave by reason of the birth of a child of an employee or the placement of a child 16 years of age or less with an employee in connection with the adoption of the child by the employee.
Unlike the FMLA, Rhode Island allows leave to care for an employee’s mother- and father-in-law.
Maintenance of health benefits
Similar to the FMLA, Rhode Island requires that employers maintain health benefits during an employee’s leave; however, an employee must pay the total cost of premiums prior to their start of leave to keep the benefits in force. Employers must refund the money within 10 days of the employee returning to work.
Job restoration
Like the FMLA, employees returning from leave must be returned to the same or equivalent position.
Notice
Rhode Island requires that employees provide 30 days’ notice to their employer in advance of family or parental leave unless prevented by a medical emergency. The notice must include the date the leave is expected to start and end.
Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces (paid sick leave)
Effective July 1, 2018, many employees are entitled to paid sick leave under the Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act, which was signed into law in September, 2017.
Covered employers
Employers are covered by the law if they have 18 or more employees. This includes anyone suffered or permitted to work. This does not include independent contractors, subcontractors, work-study participants, apprentices, and interns.
Employee eligibility
The individual must be an employee. Paid leave may be taken after a 90-day waiting period. Employees accrue the leave upon hire. Employees accrue one hour of paid leave for every 35 hours worked.
If you would rather not worry about accruals, you may provide lump sums of paid leave. For employees working an average of:
- 37.5 – 40 hours per week, 8 hours of leave per month for five months
- 30 hours per week, five hours per month for eight months
- 24 hours per week, four hours per month for 10 months
- 20 hours per week, four hours per month for 10 months
- 16 hours per week, three hours per month for 10 months
- 10 hours per week, two hours per month for 10 months
- Five hours per week, one hour per month for 10 months
Exempt employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week.
Temp employees may take leave after a 180-day waiting period, and seasonal employees may take leave after a 150-day waiting period.
Leave entitlement
Employees may take 40 hours of paid leave.
Reasons for leave
- An employee’s condition or need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care
- Care of a family member’s need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care
- Public health emergency
- Closure of the business due to a public health emergency
- Closure of an employee’s child care place due to a public health emergency
- Employee or family member’s quarantine for exposure to communicable disease (need not have actually contracted the disease)
- When the employee or a family member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
Since it is not specifically prohibited or allowed, it is assumed that if the reason qualifies and the employee is otherwise eligible, the leave would run concurrent with federal FMLA.
Reinstatement
Not specifically indicated, given the nature and duration of the leave. You may not take an adverse action against an employee because the employee used the leave.
Notice
Employees may request leave verbally. You may require employees to provide advance notice when the leave is foreseeable. When leave is not foreseeable, you may require notice, as long as you have a written policy containing procedures for providing notice.
If an employee takes more than three consecutive days of leave, you may require reasonable documentation that the leave was used for a qualifying reason, as long as the you have notified the employee in writing of this requirement before leave began.
School involvement leave
Employees who have been employed by the same employer for 12 consecutive months are entitled to a total of 10 hours of leave during any 12-month period to attend school conferences or other school-related activities for a child. In this situation, the employee is the parent, foster parent, or guardian.
The employee must provide 24 hours’ prior notice of the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as not to unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.
Family military leave
The Rhode Island Family Military Leave Act provides unpaid leave for the family of military servicemembers.
Employer coverage
The Rhode Island Family Military Leave Act covers employers with 15 or more employees, the state of Rhode Island, Rhode Island municipalities, and other units of local government.
Employee eligibility
Employees are eligible, much like the federal criteria, if they have been employed with the same employer for at least 12 months and worked for at least 1,250 hours during the preceding 12 months. The law does not indicate that the 12 months worked for the employer need to be consecutive or not.
Leave entitlement
Employers that have 15 to 50 employees must provide up to 15 days of unpaid family military leave. Employers that have 51 or more employees must provide up to 30 days of unpaid family military leave.
Employees must exhaust all accrued vacation leave, personal leave, comp time, and any other leave that may be granted — except sick leave and disability leave — before taking family military leave.
Type of leave
Leave is to be granted to spouses or parents of a person called to military service lasting longer than 30 days with the state or the United States pursuant to the orders of the governor of Rhode Island or the President of the United States.
Maintenance of health benefits
During family military leave, the employer must make it possible for employees to continue their benefits at the employee's expense. The employer and employee may negotiate for the employer to maintain benefits at the employer's expense.
Job restoration
Upon the expiration of leave, employees are entitled to restoration to the position held when the leave commences or to a position with equivalent seniority status, benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. If the employer proves that the employee was not restored because of conditions unrelated to the employee's rights under this law, restoration need not be provided.
Notice
Employees must give at least 14 days’ notice of the intended date leave will begin if the leave is to last five or more consecutive workdays. Where able, the employee must consult with the employer to schedule the leave to not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. If military family leave is for less than five consecutive days, the employee must provide advance notice as is practicable.
The employer may require certification from the proper military authority to verify the employee's eligibility to take the requested leave.
Temporary Caregiver Leave
Employees are entitled to take paid leave to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent, or to bond with a new child.
Benefits are in accordance with the following:
- Beginning January 1, 2014, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of four weeks in a benefit year;
- Beginning January 1, 2022, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of five weeks in a benefit year;
- Beginning January 1, 2023, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of six weeks in a benefit year.
- Beginning January 1, 2025, temporary caregiver benefits are limited to a maximum of seven weeks in a benefit year.
- Beginning January 1, 2026, temporary caregiver benefits are limited to a maximum of eight weeks in a benefit year.
The law amended the state’s temporary disability insurance (TDI) program. The benefit is funded through employee payroll deductions. Employees cannot, however, file for both temporary caregiver benefits and temporary disability benefits for the same reason.
Employees may take such leave when they are unable to perform their regular and customary work because of the qualifying reasons.
Unless leave is unforeseeable, employees are to give 30 days’ written notice of the need for leave.
Employers may require that employees provide a certification supporting the need for leave.
During leave, the employer must maintain health benefits. The employee must continue to pay any of his or her share of the cost.
Employees are entitled to be reinstated to their position or an equivalent one.
Employers are to provide a notice to new employees hired on or after January 1, 2014, and to each employee taking leave on or after January 1, 2014. Employers also need to post and maintain information regarding the program.
When applicable, temporary caregiver leave may run concurrently with the federal FMLA and/or the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act.
Pregnancy accommodations
Under the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act, employers with four or more employees are to accommodate an employee’s or applicant’s condition related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, unless they can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose an undue hardship.
Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to take leave if another accommodation can be provided. Accommodations could include more frequent or longer breaks, acquisition or modification of equipment, seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position, job restructuring, light duty, break time and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk, assistance with manual labor, or modified work schedules.
While it does not provide for a set period of leave, the law includes in its definition of a “reasonable accommodation” time off to recover from childbirth.
You are not required to create a position you would not otherwise have created, unless you would do so for other classes of employees who need accommodation, such as those injured on the job or those with disabilities.
Employers are to provide and post a notice regarding the provisions. Such notice is to be provided to new employees upon hire, existing employees by October 22, 2015, and within 10 days of an employee notifying the employer of her pregnancy.
State contacts
Department of Labor and Training
http://www.dlt.ri.gov/
State statutes/regulations
Rhode Island General Laws Section 28-48-1 et seq., “Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act” (includes school involvement leave)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/title28/28-48/index.htm
Administrative regulations (medical leave)
https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/documents/14717/MedicalLeave_rr02.pdf
Rhode Island General Laws, Section 28-57, Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/
Rhode Island General Laws Section 30-33-1 et seq., “Rhode Island Family Military Leave Act”
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE30/30-33/INDEX.HTM
Rhode Island General Laws Section 28-41-34 et seq., Temporary Caregiver Insurance
http://webserver.rilegislature.gov//Statutes/TITLE28/28-41/INDEX.htm
Rhode Island General Laws Section 28-5-7.4 Accommodation of pregnancy-related conditions
http://webserver.rilegislature.gov//Statutes/TITLE28/28-5/28-5-7.4.htm
Federal
ContactsUS Dept. of Labor, Wage & Hour Division
Regulations 29 CFR Part 825, “The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993”