Quick Hits
- The Rhode Island General Assembly wrapped up its 2026 legislative session on June 11, 2026, after passing several bills impacting employers.
- New enactments address grocery store self-service checkouts and employee monitors, provide warehouse worker protections, and expand Rhode Island’s Fair Employment Practices Act to cover domestic workers.
- Lawmakers failed to pass some notable proposals, including bills that would have regulated AI use and electronic monitoring in workplaces, provided protections against workplace bullying, and expanded caregiver leave.
Enacted Legislation Impacting Employers
Senate Bill (S) 2342 Sub B / House Bill (H) 7290 Sub A—Restrictions on Self-Service Checkout Stations Act—Effective January 1, 2027
This statute places limits on the number of self-service checkout stations a grocery store can have and on the workload of employees assigned to monitor those checkout stations. The law mandates that grocery stores “have a minimum of one manual checkout station in operation for every three (3) self-service checkout stations in operation” with at least one manual checkout station that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
S 2504 Sub A / H 7364 Sub A—Warehouse Worker Protection Act—Effective January 1, 2027
This law requires employers to provide each employee of a warehouse distribution center, upon hire, with a written description of each applicable quota within defined time periods and of the adverse employment action for failure to meet the quota. The law prohibits employers from requiring workers to meet quotas that prevent them from taking required meal and rest periods or using the bathroom.
S 2921 / H 8504—Domestic Service Workers Added to the Definition of ‘Employees’ Under FEPA—Effective June 10, 2026
Rhode Island lawmakers have recently taken legislative steps to treat domestic workers like other employees under Rhode Island’s labor and employment laws. In 2024, Rhode Island amended its minimum wage law to include domestic workers. This year, lawmakers passed and enacted S 2921 / H 8504, amending the definition of “employee” under the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA), Rhode Island General Law Section 28-5-6, to similarly include individuals employed in domestic service.
Notable Bills That Failed to Pass
S 2502 / H 8505—Proposed Workplace Psychological Safety Act
For the past few legislative sessions, lawmakers have proposed the Workplace Psychological Safety Act to prohibit bullying and psychological abuse in the workplace. Business-interest and civil-rights groups have raised various concerns about past versions of this legislation. Although this year’s version of the bill attempted to address some of those concerns, it failed to address all of them and did not pass in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
S 2166 / H 7490—Overtime Wages for Exempt Workers
This bill would have required small employers with fifty or fewer employees and large employers with more than fifty employees “in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity” under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salaries exceed varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty-hour workweek. This bill failed to pass.
S 2499 Sub A / H 7767—AI Use in the Workplace
This bill would have created a comprehensive statutory framework to address and regulate the use of AI technology, defined as “automated decision system[s] (ADS),” in the workplace to make employment decisions (i.e., hiring, promotion, or disciplinary decisions) when such decisions rely on data collected through electronic monitoring. H 7767 sought to impose requirements for “prior notice” of electronic monitoring, certain recordkeeping obligations, and employee anti-retaliation protections. Although this bill passed in the Rhode Island Senate, it failed to gain traction in the House.
S 2737 Sub A / H 7968—Temporary Caregiver Leave Benefits Expansion
In recent years, lawmakers have considered expanding temporary caregiver benefits to extend to a broadened class of individuals for whom an employee can serve as a caregiver, lengthen the time an employee can receive temporary caregiver benefits, and increase the amount employees can receive through wage-replacement benefits under the temporary caregiver program. This year was no exception: Lawmakers introduced a bill that would have expanded the definition of individuals for whom an employee may serve as a caregiver to include a grandchild and a “care recipient,” as well as increased the amount of time an employee could receive temporary caregiver benefits from eight weeks to ten weeks in 2027 and twelve weeks in 2028. The Senate passed this bill, but the legislation failed to pass in the House.
Staying Informed
Ogletree Deakins’ Providence and Boston offices will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Employment Law and Rhode Island blogs as additional information becomes available.
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