Rhode Island’s governor recently signed the Temporary Caregiver Insurance Program (TCI) into law. This makes Rhode Island the third state to adopt paid family leave insurance, behind California and New Jersey. TCI, which is effective January 1, 2014, expands the state temporary disability insurance program to provide wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, and grandparent or to bond with a new child. Leave is funded by payroll deduction.
What employers need to know
- Beginning January 1, 2014 employees are eligible to take a maximum of four (4) weeks in a benefit year
- Employee’s must give a minimum of thirty (30) days written notice prior to start of the leave
- Failure to provide written notice may result in a delay or reduction in benefits, except in the event the time of leave is unforeseeable or the time of leave changes for unforeseeable circumstances
- During any caregiver leave the employer must maintain any existing health benefits of the employee in force for the duration of the leave as if the employee had continued in employment continuously from the date he or she started the leave until the date the caregiver benefits terminate, provided that the employee continues to pay any employee shares of the cost of health benefits as required prior to the start of the leave
- An employer must restore the employee to the position he/she held before the leave started or to a position with equivalent seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment including fringe benefits and service credits that the employee had been entitled to when the leave began
What employees need to know
- Individuals who exercise their right to leave covered by the TCI program must file a certificate form with information specified by the Department of Labor and Training
- Health information pursuant to any individual’s temporary disability claim or temporary caregiver insurance claim must be handled confidentially and applicable with all state and federal regulations
- There are penalties for misrepresentation of benefits or intent to defraud the system
- Individual’s cannot be paid temporary caregiver benefits and temporary disability benefits which together exceed thirty (30) times his or her weekly benefit rate in any benefit year
Notice of the TCI program must be given to each new employee hired on or after January 1, 2014 and to each employee taking leave from work due to pregnancy or the need to provide care for any sick or injured family member or new child. Additionally, each employer must post and maintain information regarding the program in the workplace for employees to view. Compliance Poster Company’s Legal Research and Compliance Department is monitoring activity to facilitate the posting notice requirement. Updates to state products will be necessary for this change as well as the increase in the minimum wage effective January 1, 2014. We will keep you posted.