Title 28, Title 28 and Labor Relations

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any employer to pay to an employee any wages or money which the employer lawfully holds as garnishee under a writ of attachment issued by any court of this state in which the employer is named as garnishee, if the garnishee ma…

(a) Every employer shall keep a true and accurate record of hours worked and wages paid each pay period to each employee in any form that may be prescribed by the director. The employer shall keep the records on file for at least three (3) years after the entry of the record. At …

The director and his or her authorized representatives shall have the right to enter any place of employment for the purpose of inspecting the employment records required by § 28-14-12 and seeing that all provisions of this chapter are complied with.

Any effort of any employer to obstruct the director and his or her authorized representatives in the performance of their duties shall be deemed a violation of this chapter and punishable as such.

The director and his or her authorized representatives shall have the power to administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath, issue subpoenas, subpoenas duces tecum, compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production of papers, books, accounts, records, payrolls, document…

In case of failure of any person to comply with any lawfully issued subpoena, or subpoena duces tecum, or on the refusal of any witness to testify to any matter regarding which he or she may be lawfully interrogated, it shall be the duty of the superior court, or any judge of tha…

(a) Except as otherwise provided for in this chapter, any employer who or that violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of the misdemeanor, the employer shall be punished by a fine of not less tha…

(a) Any employer found to have violated the provisions of this chapter upon final determination by the department of labor and training, including claims settled via settlement agreement and administrative hearing, shall be assessed an administrative penalty equal to fifteen perc…

This chapter shall not be construed to diminish or impair the rights of a person under any collective bargaining agreement.

(a) The relief and damages for violations set forth in §§ 28-14-19.2 and 28-14-19.3 shall also apply to § 28-41-35(f) and (g) and chapters 3, 6, 12, and 18 of this title, chapter 23 of title 5 , and chapter 3 of title 25. (b) The director, on or before December 31, 2024, and annu…

(a) It shall be the duty of the director to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter and chapter 12 of this title. The director, or the director’s designee, may investigate any violations thereof, institute or cause to be instituted actions for the collection of wage…

(a) The misclassification of a worker whether performing work as a natural person, business, corporation, or entity of any kind, as an independent contractor when the worker should be considered and paid as an employee shall be considered a violation of this chapter. (b) Upon rec…

(a) Any employee or former employee, or any organization representing the employee or former employee aggrieved by the failure to pay wages and/or benefits or misclassification in violation of chapter 12 of this title and/or this chapter may file a civil action in any court of co…

No employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee or any other person for asserting, supporting, reporting, or participating in or being asked to participate in the investigation or d…

Every employer shall establish a regular payday on which wages shall be paid in full in lawful money of the United States, or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value. Each employee must be notified in writing, or by posted notice that may readily be see…

(a) On every regular payday, every employer shall furnish to any employee the following: (1) A statement of the hours worked by that employee during the applicable pay period; provided, that the statement need not be furnished to an employee described in § 28-12-4.3; (2) A record…

(a) Except as provided in §§ 28-14-4, 28-14-5 and subsections (b) and (c) of this section, every employee other than employees of the state and its political subdivisions and of religious, literary, or charitable corporations shall be paid weekly all due wages from his or her emp…

(a) All claims for wages may be filed with the director within three (3) years from the time of services rendered by an employee to his or her employer. (b) An aggrieved person who alleges a violation of any provision of this chapter may bring a civil action for appropriate injun…

The labor relations board shall not accept for collection the unpaid wage claim of any nonresident of this state unless the state of which that nonresident is a citizen accepts for collection the unpaid wage claims of Rhode Island residents.

It shall be mandatory upon the attorney general of this state to prosecute all civil and criminal cases which shall be referred by the director to the attorney general. It shall be the duty of the attorney general to prosecute actions, both civil and criminal, for those violation…

The director shall have the power and authority to: (1) Take assignments of wage claims and rights of action for penalties as provided by §§ 28-14-17 and 28-14-19 without being bound by any of the technical rules with reference to the validity of the assignments; (2) Prosecute ac…

(a) In any action for unpaid wages brought under the provisions of this chapter, the employer-debtor shall not deduct as a setoff or counterclaim: (1) Any money allegedly due the employer as compensation for damages caused to the employer’s property by the negligence of the emplo…

In all actions brought by the director as assignee under § 28-14-23, no court costs of any nature shall be required to be advanced nor shall any bond or other security be required from the director in connection with the action.

Any deputy sheriff requested by the director to serve summons, writs, complaints, orders, including any garnishment papers and all necessary and legal papers, shall do so without requiring the director to advance the fees or furnish any security or bond.

Whenever the director requires a deputy sheriff whose duty it is to seize property or levy on property in any attachment proceedings to satisfy any wage claim judgment to perform any duty, the officer shall do so without requiring the director to furnish any security or bond in t…

Any garnishee defendant shall be required to appear and make answer in any action, as required by law, without having paid to him or her in advance garnishee’s fees, but garnishee’s fees shall be included as part of the taxable costs of the action.

Out of any recovery on a judgment in a suit there shall be paid: (1) First, the garnishee’s and witness fees; (2) Second, the wage claims involved; (3) Third, the deputy sheriff’s fees; and (4) Fourth, the court costs.

Whenever a majority of the members of the duly certified collective bargaining unit in any place of employment requests, in writing, from their employer that their union dues be deducted from their salary, the dues shall be deducted and remitted together with a list of the member…

(a) Subject to any provisions of the general laws or the public laws to the contrary, whenever any employer provides for a payroll deduction for any purpose, the employer shall transfer those funds deducted to the appropriate person, agency, partnership, or corporation entitled t…

(a) No employer shall deduct or withhold from the payment of wages owed to an employee for the performance of work or other reason set forth in this chapter, any monies not authorized by federal or state law or by court order, without first getting written or electronic approval …

If any provision of this chapter, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected by the invalidity.

Whenever an employee who has worked for an employer for more than one year is separated from work by a “layoff,” the employer shall offer to pay to the employee the same wages earned at the time of the separation upon the employee’s later return to work at the same or similar job…

(a) Whenever an employee separates or is separated from the payroll of an employer, the unpaid wages or compensation of the employee shall become due on the next regular payday and payable at the usual place of payment. (b) Whenever an employee separates or is separated from the …

In the event of the suspension of work as the result of an industrial dispute, the wages and compensation earned and unpaid at the time of the suspension, without abatement or reduction, shall become due and payable at the next regular payday.

(a) Any employer, including the state or a municipal corporation, may at any time after thirty (30) days from the death of an employee pay all wages or personal earnings due to the deceased employee, in order of preference, to: (1) The surviving husband or wife; (2) Children eigh…

In the event of any distribution of an employer’s assets pursuant to an order of any court under the laws of this state, including receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, adjudicated insolvency, composition, or similar proceeding, the wages or compensation earned and u…

In case of a dispute over wages, the employer shall give written notice to the employee of the amount of wages that he or she concedes to be due and shall pay that amount without condition within the time set by this chapter; provided, that acceptance by the employee of this paym…

Nothing contained in this chapter shall in any way limit or prohibit the payment of wages or compensation at more frequent intervals, or in greater amounts or in full when or before due, but no provision of this chapter can in any way be contravened or set aside by a private agre…