Title 28, Title 28 and Labor Relations

Effective July 1, 2023, the department of labor and training (“department”) shall require publicly funded workforce and training programs to supplement all paper-based credentials with verified electronic credentials. Credentials include, but are not limited to, certifications, l…

It is the duty of every able-bodied male resident of this state between the ages of eighteen (18) and fifty (50) years to be habitually and regularly engaged in some lawful, useful, and recognized business, profession, occupation, trade, or employment. Whenever the governor of th…

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to persons temporarily unemployed by reason of differences with their employers, to bona fide students during the school term, or to persons preparing themselves to engage in trade or industrial pursuits.

For the purposes of this chapter, any male person described in § 28-2-1 found in this state shall be deemed a resident, and in any prosecution under this chapter proof that the accused habitually loiters in idleness in streets, roads, depots, poolrooms, saloons, hotels, stores, o…

In no case shall the possession by the accused of money, property, or income sufficient to support himself and those regularly dependent upon him be a defense to any prosecution under this chapter.

In no case shall the claim by the accused of his inability to obtain work or employment be a defense to a prosecution under this chapter, unless it is proven that the accused promptly notified the director of labor and training of his inability to obtain employment, requested tha…

It shall be the duty of the director of labor and training, whenever any person informs him or her of his inability to obtain employment, to register the name of the person in the office of the director of labor and training, together with his address, age, and any other informat…

All persons required to work under this chapter shall receive compensation of not less than the wage or salary paid to others engaged in the same nature of work to which each person is assigned. If any person is assigned to work for any department, board, division, or commission …

Any person failing or refusing to do, or to continue to do, the work assigned to him, or who, in the meanwhile, has not become regularly or continuously employed in some lawful, useful, and recognized business, occupation, trade, profession, or employment, shall be guilty of a mi…

As soon as the proclamation has been issued as provided in § 28-2-1, it shall be the duty of the director of labor and training to prepare and publish any rules and regulations governing the assignment of persons to work under this chapter as will assure that all persons similarl…

After the issuance of the proclamation in § 28-2-1, it shall be the duty of a member of the division of sheriffs and of any other officer, state, county, or municipality charged with enforcing the law, to seek and continue to seek diligently the names and places of residence of a…

The director of labor and training is authorized to appoint or employ any employees that may be necessary, and to use any agencies that may be available and appropriate, to aid him or her in carrying out the provisions of this chapter, and the director may delegate any and all of…

No child under fourteen (14) years of age shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work at any time in any business or industrial establishment in this state. No child under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work at any time in any facto…

The department of labor and training is empowered and is authorized, under any rules that it may determine, to declare any particular work, occupation, trade, place, or process injurious, dangerous, or hazardous for minors under sixteen (16) years of age. The department of labor …

(a) No children under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work more than forty (40) hours in any one week in any business or mercantile establishment within this state, and in no case shall the hours of labor exceed eight (8) hours in any one d…

Every employer shall post, in one or more places in the employer’s establishment where it may be easily seen and read by all employees employed by the employer, a printed or typewritten notice stating the minimum rates of pay, including hourly rates, or piece rate or both, as the…

All employees are entitled to a twenty-minute (20) mealtime within a six-hour (6) work shift, and a thirty-minute (30) mealtime with an eight-hour (8) work shift. An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee for this mealtime. The provisions of this section shall n…

Every person who willfully employs or has in his or her employ or under his or her charge any person in violation of the provisions of this chapter, and every parent or guardian who permits any child to be so employed, shall be fined one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense. T…

The division of labor standards has full power to enforce §§ 28-3-1 — 28-3-20, and has all the powers of the division of compliance inspection insofar as those powers relate to and affect women and children. All actions, suits, complaints, and prosecutions for the violation of an…

A printed copy of §§ 28-3-1 — 28-3-20 shall be posted by the inspectors in each workroom of every factory, manufacturing, or mercantile establishment where persons are employed who are affected by the provisions of this chapter.

Whenever any truant officer or compliance inspector has reason to doubt that any child employed in any factory, mechanical, manufacturing, or business establishment has reached the age of sixteen (16) years, the compliance inspector shall demand of the child’s employer that the e…

Except as otherwise specifically provided, any person or corporation who or that: (1) Employs a child under sixteen (16) years of age without the permit required by § 28-3-3; (2) Makes a false statement in regard to any part required by the certificate; (3) Violates any of the pr…

The school committee of each city or town, or any person the school committee may designate, may issue for any child who has completed fourteen (14) years of age a special limited permit to work, permitting the employment of the child on days on which schools are not in session, …

The school committee of each city and town is authorized to adopt and implement a school-supervised and school-administered work experience and career exploration program (WECEP), under which students who have completed fourteen (14) years of age may be enrolled, notwithstanding …

The permit of any child issued pursuant to § 28-3-3 may be revoked or suspended by the school committee that issued the permit if upon the recommendation of the principal of the school that the child attends, to the school committee, that the issuance of the permit appears detrim…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preclude any manufacturing or industrial pre-apprenticeship or internship program, provided that the child is sixteen (16) years of age or older and that the pre-apprenticeship or internship program complies with the career and techni…

No police officer, probation officer, truant officer, or principal of a school complaining under any of the provisions of this chapter shall be required to give surety for costs; and no such person shall in any way be liable for any costs that may accrue on the complaint.

The permit shall, within five (5) days after termination of the employment of the child, be returned by the employer to the school committee that issued it, or to any person the committee shall designate, and shall be kept on file until the official authorized to issue the certif…

If it appears to the satisfaction of the school committee, or person authorized to give the certificate, that neither the birth certificate, baptismal certificate, nor passport of the child can be produced, the age and employment certificate may be granted on other evidence satis…

All certificates of age and permits required by this chapter relating to the qualification of children employed in any factory, or manufacturing, or business establishment coming under the provisions of this chapter, shall be kept by the employer at the place where the child is e…

If, after investigation, the inspector finds that the certificate or permit should not have been issued to the child under the provisions of this chapter, then he or she shall: (1) Deliver the certificate or permit to the person who issued it; (2) Order it to be cancelled; and (3…

Every person, firm, or corporation doing business within this state employing five (5) or more persons, or employing any child under sixteen (16) years of age, shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 28-3-1 — 28-3-20 whatever the business conducted by the person, firm, or corpor…

No minor under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed or permitted to work in operations or operating or assisting in operating any of the following machines: circular or bandsaws, wood shapers, wood jointers, planers, sand paper or wood polishing machinery; picker machines …

No person under the age of eighteen (18) may work in a commercial adult entertainment establishment.

This chapter may be cited as the “State Fair Employment Practices Act.”

Three (3) members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting its business. A vacancy in the commission does not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise all the powers of the commission. This section does not preclude one commissioner o…

Members of the commission shall not be compensated for the discharge of their official duties but shall be entitled to the reimbursement of expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of their duties. All members of the commission shall be eligible for r…

Any member of the commission may be removed by the governor for inefficiency, neglect of duty, misconduct, or malfeasance in office, after being given a written statement of the charges and an opportunity to be publicly heard on them.

The commission shall have the following powers and duties: (1) To establish and maintain a principal office in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, and any other offices within the state that it may deem necessary. (2) To meet and function at any place within the state. (3) To a…

In order to eliminate prejudice among the various ethnic groups in this state and to further good will among those groups, the commission and the state council on elementary and secondary education are jointly directed to prepare a comprehensive educational program, designed for …

The commission is authorized to accept contributions from any person and may seek and enlist the cooperation of private charitable, religious, labor, civic, and benevolent organizations for the purposes of § 28-5-14. All contributions shall be deposited as general revenues of the…

The commission is empowered and directed, as subsequently provided, to prevent any person from engaging in unlawful employment practices, provided that before instituting the formal hearing authorized by §§ 28-5-18 — 28-5-27, it shall attempt, by informal methods of conference, p…

(a) Upon the commission’s own initiative or whenever an aggrieved individual or an organization chartered for the purpose of combating discrimination, racism, or of safeguarding civil liberties, or of promoting full, free, or equal employment opportunities, that individual or org…

(a) If the commission fails to effect the elimination of the unlawful employment practices and to obtain voluntary compliance with this chapter, or, if the circumstances warrant, in advance of any preliminary investigation or endeavors, the commission shall have the power to issu…

The commission, member of the commission, or hearing examiner conducting the hearing shall have the power to reasonably and fairly amend any written complaint at any time prior to the issuance of an order based on the complaint. The respondent shall have like power to amend its a…

The practice or policy of discrimination against individuals because of their race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin is a matter of state concern. Such discrimination foments domestic strife…