Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H5047 Compare Versions

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

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5	5	2025 -- H 5047
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7	7	LC000463
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9	9	S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
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, O'Brien, Dawson, Solomon, McEntee,
18	18	Corvese, Fellela, Kennedy, and Edwards
19	19	Date Introduced: January 15, 2025
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. Legislative findings. 1
25	25	The general assembly finds and declares the following: 2
26	26	(1) The rapid growth of just-in-time logistics and same- and next-day consumer package 3
27	27	delivery, and advances in technology used for tracking employee productivity, have led to a rise in 4
28	28	the number of warehouse and distribution center workers, who are subject to quantified work 5
29	29	quotas. 6
30	30	(2) Warehouse and distribution center employees who work under those quotas are 7
31	31	expected to complete a quantified number of tasks within specific time periods, often measured 8
32	32	down to the minute or second, and face adverse employment action, including suspension or 9
33	33	termination, if they fail to do so. 10
34	34	(3) Those quotas generally do not allow for workers to comply with safety guidelines or to 11
35	35	recover from strenuous activity during productive work time, leaving warehouse and distribution 12
36	36	center employees who work under them at high risk of injury and illness. 13
37	37	(4) The quotas under which warehouse and distribution center employees regularly work 14
38	38	also affect their compensation. California and many cities require employers to pay their employees 15
39	39	a minimum-wage rate. Warehouse and distribution center employees who work under a quota, 16
40	40	however, do not receive the full benefit of minimum wages if their quota is increased to make up 17
41	41	for the direct or indirect effect of a minimum-wage increase. 18
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44	44	LC000463 - Page 2 of 5
45	45	(5) Quotas in occupations that are already physically demanding not only increase 1
46	46	accidents, but they also incentivize unsafe work. The workforce in warehouse and logistics is 2
47	47	largely comprised of people of color who depend upon these jobs to provide for their families and 3
48	48	often see no alternative but to prioritize quota compliance over their own safety. These workers 4
49	49	end up working faster than is healthy in order to keep their jobs. 5
50	50	(6) Workplace injuries can take a terrible toll on workers, their families and their 6
51	51	communities, and can create substantial costs for employers. According to the most recent data 7
52	52	(2020) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the warehouse industry itself reports a rate of 8
53	53	serious work-related injuries involving lost time or restricted duty (4.0 cases/100 full-time workers) 9
54	54	that is more than twice the average injury rates for all private industry (1.7 cases/100 full-time 10
55	55	workers). The most common types of work-related serious injury reported by employers in the 11
56	56	warehouse sector are musculoskeletal injuries, which often require workers to miss work and can 12
57	57	force workers permanently out of the job and even out of the workforce. 13
58	58	SECTION 2. Title 28 of the General Laws entitled "LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS" 14
59	59	is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 15
60	60	CHAPTER 61 16
61	61	WAREHOUSE WORKER PROTECTION ACT 17
62	62	28-61-1. Short title. 18
63	63	This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act". 19
64	64	28-61-2. Definitions. 20
65	65	As used in this chapter: 21
66	66	(1) "Defined time period" means any unit of time measurement equal to or less than the 22
67	67	duration of an employee's shift, and includes hours, minutes, and seconds and any fraction thereof. 23
68	68	(2) "Director" means director of the department of labor and training. 24
69	69	(3) "Department" means the department of labor and training. 25
70	70	(4) "Employee" means a nonexempt employee who works at a warehouse distribution 26
71	71	center. 27
72	72	(5)(i) "Employee work speed data" means information an employer collects, stores, 28
73	73	analyzes, or interprets relating to an individual employee's performance of a quota, including, but 29
74	74	not limited to, quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items or materials handled or produced, 30
75	75	rates or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee performance in relation 31
76	76	to a quota, and time categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks. 32
77	77	(ii) "Employee work speed data" does not include qualitative performance assessments, 33
78	78	personnel records, or itemized wage statements, except for any content of those records that 34
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81	81	LC000463 - Page 3 of 5
82	82	includes employee work speed data, as defined in this definition. 1
83	83	(6) "Employer" means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other 2
84	84	person, including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary service, or staffing 3
85	85	agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions 4
86	86	of one hundred (100) or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or one thousand 5
87	87	(1,000) or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state. 6
88	88	(7) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited 7
89	89	liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint 8
90	90	venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or 9
91	91	foreign. 10
92	92	(8) "Quota" means a work standard under which an employee is assigned or required to 11
93	93	perform at a specified productivity speed, or perform a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or 12
94	94	produce a quantified amount of material, within a defined time period and under which the 13
95	95	employee may suffer an adverse employment action, if the employee fails to complete the 14
96	96	performance standard. 15
97	97	(9)(i) "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as defined by any of the 16
98	98	following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes, however that 17
99	99	establishment is denominated: 18
100	100	(A) 493110 for General Warehousing and Storage. 19
101	101	(B) 423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods. 20
102	102	(C) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods. 21
103	103	(D) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses. 22
104	104	28-61-3. Disclosure of quotas. 23
105	105	(a) Each employer shall provide to each employee, upon hire, a written description of each 24
106	106	quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed 25
107	107	or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period, and any potential adverse 26
108	108	employment action that could result from the failure to meet the quota. The requirement to disclose 27
109	109	also applies to any changes in the quota. 28
110	110	(b) Nothing in this section requires an employer to use quotas or monitor work speed data. 29
111	111	An employer that does not monitor this data, has no obligation to provide it. 30
112	112	28-61-4. Meal and rest periods. 31
113	113	An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or 32
114	114	rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom 33
115	115	facilities, or occupational health and safety laws in the labor laws or department standards. An 34
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118	118	LC000463 - Page 4 of 5
119	119	employer shall not take adverse employment action against an employee for failure to meet a quota 1
120	120	that does not allow a worker to comply with meal and rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or 2
121	121	occupational health and safety laws, labor laws, or for failure to meet a quota that has not been 3
122	122	disclosed to an employee. 4
123	123	28-61-5. Employee information request. 5
124	124	Employees may request from the employer the written description of the quota, and a copy 6
125	125	of the employee's own speed data as well as the aggregated work speed data for comparable 7
126	126	employees working in the facility. 8
127	127	28-61-6. Unlawful retaliation. 9
128	128	There shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer in any 10
129	129	manner discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action against any employee because an 11
130	130	employee exercises their rights pursuant to this chapter. 12
131	131	28-61-7. Severability. 13
132	132	The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision or its application is held 14
133	133	invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect 15
134	134	without the invalid provision or application. 16
135	135	SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 17
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141	141	LC000463 - Page 5 of 5
142	142	EXPLANATION
143	143	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
144	144	OF
145	145	A N A C T
146	146	RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WAREHOUSE WORKER
147	147	PROTECTION ACT
148	148	***
149	149	This act would require employers to provide each employee, defined as a nonexempt 1
150	150	employee who works at a warehouse distribution center, upon hire, with a written description of 2
151	151	each quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be 3
152	152	performed or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period and any potential 4
153	153	adverse employment action that could result from failure to meet the quota. 5
154	154	This act would take effect upon passage. 6
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156	156	LC000463
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