Title 28
Labor and Labor Relations

Chapter 33
Workers’ Compensation — Benefits

R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-17.1

§ 28-33-17.1. Employees not entitled to compensation.

(a) An employee shall not be entitled to compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title for any period during which the employee was gainfully employed or found capable of gainful employment at an average weekly wage equal to or in excess of the pre-injury average weekly wage, exclusive of overtime, that the employee was earning at the time of the employee’s injury, notwithstanding an existing agreement or decree to the contrary.

(b) In the event that any employer or insurer makes payment of compensation benefits to an employee for any period during which the employee was not entitled to be paid in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, or in the event that an overpayment of weekly benefits was paid, the employer shall be entitled to credit for any payment of compensation made during that period of employment against future compensation benefits and/or specific compensation benefits pursuant to § 28-33-19 payable directly to the employee, as agreed to by the parties, or determined by the court.

(c) An employee shall also not be entitled to compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title for any period during which the employee was imprisoned as a result of a conviction of a criminal offense. Where the disposition of criminal charges results in a conviction and includes credit for time-served, such that the time served becomes a period served as the result of a conviction, the employee shall not be entitled to compensation for that period. If payments were made to the employee for that period, prior to the disposition of the charges, the employer/insurer shall be entitled to a credit for the payments as against any future entitlement to benefits.

History of Section.
P.L. 1978, ch. 232, § 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 340, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 31, § 5; P.L. 1998, ch. 105, § 2; P.L. 1998, ch. 404, § 2; P.L. 2000, ch. 491, § 11; P.L. 2023, ch. 205, § 1, effective June 21, 2023; P.L. 2023, ch. 206, § 1, effective June 21, 2023.