Rhode Island Parental & Family Medical Leave Act Poster

—	 NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES	 —	 	
Rhode Island Parental & Family Medical Leave Act	 	
This notice is to provide you with information on the Rhode Island Parental 	& Family Medical Leave Act, which 	
requires that employers of 50 or more employees 	grant an unpaid leave of absence, upon the request of an 	
eligible employee, for 13 consecutive weeks in any two calendar years, under certain conditions.	 	
 	
Employees Eligible	 	
Employees are eligible to apply for leave if they are 	full	-	
time employees who work an average of 30 hours a 
week or more and have been employed continuously for 
at least 12 months.	 	
Purpose of Leave	 	
The leave required to be provided under the Act must be 
for one or more of the following reasons:	 	
1. Birth of a 	child of an	 employee.	 	
2. Placement of a child 16 years of age or less with an 
employee in connection with the adoption of	 such 	
child by the	 employees.	 	
3. "Serious illness" of the employee or the employee's 
parent, spouse, child, mother	-in-law, or 	father	-in- 	
law. (Serious Illness is defined to mean a disabling 
physical or mental illness, injury, impairment or 
condition that involves in	-patient care in a hospital, 	
nursing home, or hospice, or out	-patient care 	
requiring continuing treatment or supervi	sion by a 	
health care	 provider).	 	
Requests for Leave	 	
In order to be entitled to the leave, the employee must 
give at least 30 days notice of the intended date upon 
which the requested leave is to commence and 
terminate, unless prevented by medical emergency	 from 	
doing so. Employees may be requested to provide 
written certification from a physician caring for the 
person who is the reason for the leave request, which 
certification shall specify the probably duration of the 
requested leave.	 	
School Involvement L	eave	 	
An employee who has been employed for 12 
consecutive months is entitled to 10 hours of leave 
during any 12 month period to attend school 
conferences or other school	-related activities for a child 	
of whom the employee is the parent, foster parent, or 
guardian. A notice of 24 hours prior to the leave must be 
given to the employer by the employee. The leave is not 
required to be paid; except an employee may substitute 
any accrued paid vacation leave or other appropriate 
paid leave.	 	
Use of Sick Leave by 	Adoptive Parent	 	
Any employer who allows sick time or sick leave of an 
employee to be used after the birth of a child shall allow 
the same time to be used for the placement of a child 16 
years of age or less with an employee in connection with 
the adoption 	of the child by the employee.	 	
Continuation of Health Benefits	 	
Prior to the commencement of leave, the employee 
must pay his employer a sum equal to the premium 
required to maintain the employee's health benefits in 
force during the period of leave, which s	um is required 	
to be returned to the employee within 10 days following 
return to work.	 	
Return From Leave	 	
Employees who are granted leave under the Act are 
entitled to be restored to the position held when the 
leave commenced, or to a position with equivale	nt 	
seniority, status, employment benefits, pay and other 
terms and conditions of employment, including all fringe 
benefits and service credits that the employee had been 
entitled to at the commencement of the leave.	 	
Prohibited Acts	 	
The Act makes it unlawfu	l for any employer to interface 	
with, restrain, or deny employees the rights provided 
under the Act. Any discrimination or disciplinary action 
taken against an employee for exercising his rights under 
the Act, or for opposing any practice made unlawful by 
the Act, is also prohibited.	 	
Enforcement	 	
Alleged violations of the Act may be complained of (1) in 
a civil action brought by an employee, (2) by a complaint 
filed with the Director of Labor and Training of the State 
of Rhode Island. Civil penalties are pro	vided for 	
violations of the Act or any order issued by the Director 
of Labor and Training.	 	
 	
 	 	Rev. 6/2020