Under Rhode Island’s Healthy and Safe Families and Workplace Act, employers with 18 or more employees must allow employees to accrue and use paid sick and safe leave for themselves or family members. A family member includes a child, parent, spouse, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparents, domestic partner, sibling, care recipient, or member of the employee’s household. The leave can be used for the following:
- to care for their own mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; medical diagnosis, treatment and preventative medical care;
- to care for a family member with mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs preventative medical care;
- closure of worker’s place of business by order of a public official due to public health emergency or worker’s need to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or care for oneself or a family member when it has been determined by the health authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that the employee’s or family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of their exposure to a communicable disease, whether or not the employee or family member has actually contracted the communicable disease; or
- time off needed when worker or member of worker’s family is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
The Rhode Island Sick and Safe Leave poster is an optional poster that describes:
- the rights under the Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act;
- the accrual rate and the amount of sick and safe leave;
- the terms under which the leave may be used; and
- the right to be free from retaliation for properly exercising rights protected under the law.