Title 28, Title 28 and Labor Relations

The following persons shall be conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent for support upon a deceased employee: (1) A spouse either residing with the deceased employee or living apart from the deceased employee for justifiable cause, or a spouse who had been deserted or was dep…

In all other cases except those provided in § 28-33-13, questions of entire or partial dependency shall be determined in accordance with the facts as they may have been at the time of the injury. In these other cases, if there is more than one person wholly dependent, the compens…

No person shall be considered a dependent unless he or she is a member of the employee’s family or next of kin, wholly or partly dependent upon the wages, earnings, or salary of the employee for support at the time of the injury If there is no person as provided in this section, …

If the employee dies as a result of the injury, the employer shall pay in addition to any compensation provided for in this chapter, the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). This sum shall be paid under the provisions of § 28-33-23.

(a)(1) For all injuries on or after January 1, 2022, while the incapacity for work resulting from the injury is total, the employer shall pay the injured employee a weekly compensation equal to sixty-two percent (62%) of his or her average weekly base wages, earnings, or salary, …

(a) An employee shall not be entitled to compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title for any period during which the employee was gainfully employed or found capable of gainful employment at an average weekly wage equal to or in excess of the pre-injury average weekly wage,…

(a) It is the intent of the legislature that the costs resulting from fraud and abuse in the workers’ compensation system be arrested. In order to discourage potential abusers, employees must be aware of the affirmative duty to report earnings and the penalties for any fraud or a…

(a)(1) The workers’ compensation court is authorized and directed to impose sanctions and penalties necessary to maintain the integrity of, and to maintain the high standards of, professional conduct in the workers’ compensation system. All pleadings related to proceedings under …

(a) For all injuries on or after January 1, 2022, while the incapacity for work resulting from the injury is partial, the employer shall pay the injured employee a weekly compensation equal to sixty-two percent (62%) of the difference between his or her average weekly base wages,…

(a) An employee shall not be entitled to be paid compensation for total incapacity under chapters 29 — 38 of this title for any period during which the employee was gainfully employed at an average weekly wage less than that which he or she was earning at the time of his or her i…

(a) When an employee has sustained an injury that entitles the employee to receive benefits pursuant to § 28-33-18 or § 28-34-3, the employee may become capable of suitable alternative employment as determined by the workers’ compensation court, or may be offered suitable alterna…

(a)(1) For all injuries occurring on or after September 1, 1990, in those cases where the employee has received a notice of intention to terminate partial-incapacity benefits pursuant to § 28-33-18, the employee, or his or her duly authorized representative, may file with the wor…

(a)(1) In case of the following specified injuries there shall be paid in addition to all other compensation provided for in chapters 29 — 38 of this title a weekly payment equal to one-half (½) of the average weekly earnings of the injured employee, but in no case more than nine…

No compensation shall be allowed for the injury or death of an employee occasioned by his or her willful intention to bring about the injury or death of himself or herself or another, where it is proved that his or her injury or death was occasioned by that conduct, or that the i…

No compensation shall be allowed for the injury or death of an employee occasioned by or during his or her voluntary participation in employer-sponsored social or nonprofessional athletic activity; provided, that the foregoing provision shall not bar the right of an employee to r…

(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the average weekly wage shall be ascertained as follows: (1)(i) For full-time or regular employees, by dividing the gross wages, inclusive of overtime pay; provided, that bonuses and overtime shall be averaged over the length of employment bu…

(a) In the event a person collecting benefits under this chapter, regardless of the date of injury, has returned to employment for a period of twenty-six (26) weeks or more and suffers a recurrence of the injury that precipitated the person collecting benefits under this chapter,…

No savings or insurance of the injured employee, independent of chapters 29 — 38 of this title, shall be taken into consideration in determining the compensation to be paid, nor shall benefits derived from any other source than the employer be considered in fixing the compensatio…

(a) If, at the time of the injury, the injured employee is a minor employed in violation of any law of this state or of the United States relating to the employment of minors, then the compensation payable shall be treble the amount that would have been payable if that minor had …

(a) The compensation payable under chapters 29 — 38 of this title in case of death of the injured employee shall be paid to his or her legal representatives. If he or she has no legal representative, the amount is payable to his or her dependents entitled to that compensation or,…

All payments of compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title shall cease upon the death of the employee from a cause other than or not induced by the injury for which he or she is receiving compensation; provided, that where specific compensation is payable under the provisi…

(a)(1) The parties may petition the workers’ compensation court for an order approving a settlement of the future liability for a lump sum or structured-type periodic payment over a period of time. (2)(i) In considering the petition, a judge shall give due weight to the fact that…

Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 28-33-25 and 28-33-26, in cases where liability of the employer for payment of workers’ compensation benefits has not been finally established, the parties may submit a settlement proposal to the workers’ compensation court for approval. If, u…

No agreement by an employee, except as provided in §§ 28-29-22 — 28-29-24, to waive his or her rights to compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title shall be valid except to the extent permitted by § 28-41-6 or 28-33-25.1.

(a) No claims or payments due for compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title or under any alternative scheme permitted by §§ 28-29-22 — 28-29-24 shall be assignable, or subject to attachment, or liable in any way for any debts, except as set forth in subsection (b) of this…

The claim for compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title or under any alternative scheme permitted by §§ 28-29-22 — 28-29-24, and any determination or decree on any claim shall be entitled to a preference over the unsecured debts of the employer subsequently contracted to …

In case an injured employee is mentally incompetent, or, where death results from the injury, in case any of his or her dependents entitled to compensation under this chapter are mentally incompetent or minors at the time when any right, privilege, or election accrues to him or h…

No proceedings for compensation for an injury under chapters 29 — 38 of this title shall be maintained unless a notice of the injury has been given to the employer within thirty (30) days after the happening or manifestation of the injury.

Notice as required by § 28-33-30 shall state in ordinary language the nature, time, place, and cause of the injury, and the name and address of the person injured, and shall be signed by the injured person, or by a person in his or her behalf, or, in the event of his or her death…

Notice as required by § 28-33-30 shall be served upon the employer, or upon one employer, if there are more employers than one, or if the employer is a corporation, upon any officer or agent upon whom process may be served, by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be serve…

A notice given under the provisions of chapters 29 — 38 of this title shall not be held invalid or insufficient by reason of any inaccuracy in stating the nature, time, place, or cause of the injury, or the name and address of the person injured, if: (1) It is shown that the empl…

The employee shall, after an injury, and at reasonable times during the continuance of his or her disability if so requested by his or her employer, submit himself or herself to an examination by a physician, or rehabilitation counselor certified by the director pursuant to § 28-…

(a) On or about twenty-six (26) weeks from the date of a compensable injury, any person obtaining incapacity benefits may be examined and his or her diagnosis and treatment reviewed by a comprehensive independent healthcare review team or an impartial medical examiner. The compre…

(a) Any judge of the court may, at any time after an injury, on his or her own motion or on the request or petition of the employer or employee, appoint an impartial medical examiner or a comprehensive independent healthcare review team to act as a medical examiner, and the reaso…

Whenever, in any case arising under chapters 29 — 38 of this title, any judge of the court shall have, pursuant to the provisions of § 28-33-35, determined and fixed the reasonable fees of any impartial medical examiner, those medical fees shall be paid immediately, and no appeal…

A medical examiner, once being duly sworn by a judge of the workers’ compensation court appointing him or her to the faithful performance of his or her duties at the inception of his or her designation as an impartial medical examiner, shall at that time and as often as requested…

If any employee refuses to submit himself or herself for any examination provided for in chapters 29 — 38 of this title, or in any way obstructs the examination, his or her rights to compensation shall be suspended and his or her compensation during that period of suspension may …

The reasonable costs of transportation to and from the office of any examiner requested by the employer or of any impartial examiner appointed as provided in § 28-33-35 shall be charged to the employer and, if paid for by the employee, he or she shall be reimbursed in full for th…

No indemnity compensation shall be paid under chapters 29 — 38 of this title for any injury that does not incapacitate the employee for a period of at least three (3) days from earning full wages, but, if the incapacity extends beyond the period of three (3) days, compensation sh…

(a)(1) The department and the workers’ compensation court shall expedite the rehabilitation of and the return to remunerative employment of all employees who are disabled and injured and who are subject to chapters 29 — 38 of this title. (2) Rehabilitation means the prompt provis…

An employer may petition the workers’ compensation court for a review, to be performed at the Chief Judge Robert F. Arrigan Rehabilitation Center, of any injured employee’s progress toward rehabilitation. After that review, the Chief Judge Robert F. Arrigan Rehabilitation Center …

When an employee sustains property damage to eyeglasses, dentures, or artificial prosthesis arising out of and in the course of his or her employment, regardless of whether or not he or she suffered personal injury or loss of time, he or she may file a petition with the workers’ …

(a) No employer shall cancel but shall be obligated to continue to provide any employee’s health insurance benefits for a period of two (2) years from the date of the employee’s receiving weekly compensation benefits pursuant to a preliminary determination or a decision of the wo…

(a) The department of labor and training shall immediately promulgate rules and regulations concerning the offset of workers’ compensation benefits and retirement benefits. It is the intention of the general assembly that at retirement a person receiving benefits under chapters 2…

Any employee receiving weekly benefits fifty-two (52) weeks after a compensable injury shall undergo an anniversary review by the court at which, unless waived by the employer, the court shall make findings as to whether maximum medical improvement has been reached; as to the deg…

(a) A worker who has sustained a compensable injury shall be reinstated by the worker’s employer to the worker’s former position of employment upon written demand for reinstatement if the position exists and is available and the worker is not disabled from performing the duties o…