2018 -- H 7798

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LC005008

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- PAYMENT OF WAGES

     Introduced By: Representatives Williams, Lombardi, Hull, Blazejewski, and Vella-
Wilkinson

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2018

     Referred To: House Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 28-14 of the General Laws entitled "Payment of Wages" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following section:

     28-14-19.4. Publication of employers who fail to pay their employees.

     (a) It is the public policy of the state that employers pay their employees' wages in a

timely manner.

     (b) The director of the department of labor and training shall create and maintain a list, on

its website, accessible to the public, which identifies all employers who have been found to owe

back wages, pursuant to chapter 14 of this title.

     (c) For an employer that is a business entity, the department's website list, shall include

the name, under which the entity operates, as well as its address(es), plus the name and address of

each individual who was an owner of the entity and was actively involved in the management of

the entity.

     (d) The director shall provide notice to the employer, no later than one hundred eighty

(180) days before the date the employer is placed on the website list.

     (e) The director, by regulation, shall establish a process by which the employer may, at

any time after receiving notification under subsection (c) of this section, dispute the employer's

inclusion on the website. The process must require the director to investigate and make a final

determination regarding the employer's dispute, under this subsection, not less than the twenty-

first day after the day the dispute is filed.

     (f) The director shall list an employer on the website until the third anniversary of the

date the employer was originally placed on the list.

     (g) The director shall promulgate any regulations that are determined to be necessary for

the implementation of this section.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- PAYMENT OF WAGES

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     This act would require the director of the department of labor and training to establish a

list, on the department's website, of all employers that owe their employees wages.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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