The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

appendix A | state laws and departments of labor | 329
Rhode Island
Family and Medical Leave (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 28-41-1 and following)
Covered Employers: Employers with at least 50 employees.
Eligible Employees: Full-time employees who average at least 30 hours of work
per week and have been employed for at least 12 consecutive months.
Types of Leave
• Family Leave: For the employee’s own serious illness or to care for a family
member with a serious illness.
• Parental Leave: For the birth or adoption of a child.
Amount of Leave: Thirteen weeks in any two calendar years.
Family Members: Same family members as FMLA, plus parents-in-law.
Procedural Requirements
• Notice: Employee must give 30 days’ advance notice of the date when
parental or family leave shall begin and end, unless a medical emergency
prevents the employee from doing so. Notice must be in writing, must
verify the truthfulness of the employee’s factual statements, and must
include a detailed description of the circumstances the entitle the
employee to leave.
• Certification: Employer may ask employee to provide a written
certification from a physician caring for the employee or family member.
• Paid Leave: Employer that allows employees to use sick leave following the
birth of a child must also allow adoptive parents to use sick leave for the
placement of a child.
• Benefits: Before starting leave, the employee must pay the employer what
it will cost to pay the premiums to keep the employee’s health benefits
in effect during leave; the employer must return this payment to the
employee within ten days after the employee returns to work.