Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H5709 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2023 -- H 5709
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7	7	LC001397
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9	9	S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WAREHOUSE WORKER
16	16	PROTECTION ACT
17	17	Introduced By: Representatives Shanley, Craven, Casey, McNamara, Fellela, Solomon,
18	18	Edwards, Alzate, and Corvese
19	19	Date Introduced: February 17, 2023
20	20	Referred To: House Labor
21	21
22	22
23	23	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
24	24	SECTION 1. Title 28 of the General Laws entitled "LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS" 1
25	25	is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 2
26	26	CHAPTER 60 3
27	27	WAREHOUSE WORKER PROTECTION ACT 4
28	28	28-60-1. Short title. 5
29	29	This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act". 6
30	30	28-60-2. Legislative findings. 7
31	31	The general assembly finds and declares the following: 8
32	32	(1) The rapid growth of just-in-time logistics and same- and next-day consumer package 9
33	33	delivery, and advances in technology used for tracking employee productivity, have led to a rise in 10
34	34	the number of warehouse and distribution center workers who are subject to quantified work quotas. 11
35	35	(2) Warehouse and distribution center employees who work under those quotas are 12
36	36	expected to complete a quantified number of tasks within specific time periods, often measured 13
37	37	down to the minute or second, and face adverse employment action, including suspension or 14
38	38	termination, if they fail to do so. 15
39	39	(3) Those quotas generally do not allow for workers to comply with safety guidelines or to 16
40	40	recover from strenuous activity during productive work time, leaving warehouse and distribution 17
41	41	center employees who work under them at high risk of injury and illness. 18
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45	45	(4) The quotas under which warehouse and distribution center employees regularly work 1
46	46	also affect their compensation. California and many cities require employers to pay their employees 2
47	47	a minimum-wage rate. Warehouse and distribution center employees who work under a quota, 3
48	48	however, do not receive the full benefit of minimum wages if their quota is increased to make up 4
49	49	for the direct or indirect effect of a minimum-wage increase. 5
50	50	(5) Quotas in occupations that are already physically demanding not only increase 6
51	51	accidents, but they also incentivize unsafe work. The workforce in warehouse and logistics is 7
52	52	largely comprised of people of color who depend upon these jobs to provide for their families and 8
53	53	often see no alternative but to prioritize quota compliance over their own safety. These workers 9
54	54	end up working faster than is healthy in order to keep their jobs. 10
55	55	(6) Workplace injuries can take a terrible toll on workers, their families and their 11
56	56	communities, and can create substantial costs for employers. According to the most recent data 12
57	57	(2020) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the warehouse industry itself reports a rate of 13
58	58	serious work-related injuries involving lost time or restricted duty (4.0 cases/100 full-time workers) 14
59	59	that is more than twice the average injury rates for all private industry (1.7 cases/100 full-time 15
60	60	workers). The most common types of work-related serious injury reported by employers in the 16
61	61	warehouse sector are musculoskeletal injuries, which often require workers to miss work and can 17
62	62	force workers permanently out of the job and even out of the workforce. 18
63	63	28-60-3. Definitions. 19
64	64	As used in this chapter: 20
65	65	(1) “Defined time period” means any unit of time measurement equal to or less than the 21
66	66	duration of an employee’s shift, and includes hours, minutes, and seconds and any fraction thereof. 22
67	67	(2) "Director" means director of the department of labor and training. 23
68	68	(3) “Department” means the department of labor and training. 24
69	69	(4) “Employee” means a nonexempt employee who works at a warehouse distribution 25
70	70	center. 26
71	71	(5)(i) “Employee work speed data” means information an employer collects, stores, 27
72	72	analyzes, or interprets relating to an individual employee’s performance of a quota, including, but 28
73	73	not limited to, quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items or materials handled or produced, 29
74	74	rates or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee performance in relation 30
75	75	to a quota, and time categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks. 31
76	76	(ii) “Employee work speed data” does not include qualitative performance assessments, 32
77	77	personnel records, or itemized wage statements, except for any content of those records that 33
78	78	includes employee work speed data as defined in this definition. 34
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82	82	(6) “Employer” means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other 1
83	83	person, including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary service, or staffing 2
84	84	agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions 3
85	85	of one hundred (100) or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or one thousand 4
86	86	(1,000) or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state. 5
87	87	(7) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited 6
88	88	liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint 7
89	89	venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or 8
90	90	foreign. 9
91	91	(8) “Quota” means a work standard under which an employee is assigned or required to 10
92	92	perform at a specified productivity speed, or perform a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or 11
93	93	produce a quantified amount of material, within a defined time period and under which the 12
94	94	employee may suffer an adverse employment action if the employee fails to complete the 13
95	95	performance standard. 14
96	96	(9)(i) “Warehouse distribution center” means an establishment as defined by any of the 15
97	97	following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes, however that 16
98	98	establishment is denominated: 17
99	99	(A) 493110 for General Warehousing and Storage. 18
100	100	(B) 423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods. 19
101	101	(C) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods. 20
102	102	(D) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses. 21
103	103	28-60-4. Disclosure of quotas. 22
104	104	(a) Each employer shall provide to each employee, upon hire, a written description of each 23
105	105	quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed 24
106	106	or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period, and any potential adverse 25
107	107	employment action that could result from the failure to meet the quota. The requirement to disclose 26
108	108	also applies to any changes in the quota. 27
109	109	(b) Nothing in this section requires an employer to use quotas or monitor work speed data. 28
110	110	An employer that does not monitor this data has no obligation to provide it. 29
111	111	28-60-5. Meal and rest periods. 30
112	112	An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or 31
113	113	rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom 32
114	114	facilities, or occupational health and safety laws in the labor laws or department standards. An 33
115	115	employer shall not take adverse employment action against an employee for failure to meet a quota 34
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119	119	that does not allow a worker to comply with meal and rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or 1
120	120	occupational health and safety laws, labor laws, or for failure to meet a quota that has not been 2
121	121	disclosed to an employee. 3
122	122	28-60-6. Employee information request. 4
123	123	Employees may request from the employer the written description of the quota, and a copy 5
124	124	of the employee's own speed data as well as the aggregated work speed data for comparable 6
125	125	employees working in the facility. 7
126	126	28-60-7. Unlawful retaliation. 8
127	127	There shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer in any 9
128	128	manner discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action against any employee because an 10
129	129	employee exercises their rights pursuant to this chapter. 11
130	130	28-60-8. Severability. 12
131	131	The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision or its application is held 13
132	132	invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect 14
133	133	without the invalid provision or application. 15
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137	137	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1
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144	144	EXPLANATION
145	145	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
146	146	OF
147	147	A N A C T
148	148	RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WAREHOUSE WORKER
149	149	PROTECTION ACT
150	150	***
151	151	This act would require employers to provide each employee, defined as a nonexempt 1
152	152	employee who works at a warehouse distribution center, upon hire, with a written description of 2
153	153	each quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be 3
154	154	performed or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period and any potential 4
155	155	adverse employment action that could result from failure to meet the quota. 5
156	156	This act would take effect upon passage. 6
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158	158	LC001397
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