2026 -- S 2737 SUBSTITUTE A

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LC005881/SUB A

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- TEMPORARY DISABILITY

INSURANCE -- GENERAL PROVISIONS

     Introduced By: Senators Lawson, Ciccone, Tikoian, Burke, Bissaillon, LaMountain,
Murray, Britto, McKenney, and Felag

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2026

     Referred To: Senate Labor & Gaming

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 28-39 of the General Laws entitled "Temporary Disability Insurance

— General Provisions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     28-39-42. Feasibility report.

     (a) The director of the department of labor and training shall, by March 31, 2027, deliver

to the president of the senate and speaker of the house of representatives, a report examining the

feasibility, design, administration, and fiscal implications of establishing a statutory mechanism

through which eligible self-employed Rhode Island residents would be able to elect to participate

in the temporary disability insurance and temporary caregiver insurance programs established

under chapters 39, 40, and 41 of title 28.

     (b) In conducting the study, the department of labor and training shall consult with the

department of revenue and any other executive branch agency that the director of the department

of labor and training, or designee thereof, identifies as having relevant expertise or jurisdiction.

     (c) The report shall address, at a minimum:

     (1) Criteria for determining which self-employed Rhode Island residents would be eligible

to elect coverage;

     (2) Methods for assessing, collecting, and reconciling contributions from electing self-

employed residents, including coordination with existing state and federal tax reporting and

payment processes;

     (3) Methods for verifying self-employment earnings and calculating weekly benefit

amounts;

     (4) Administrative, staffing, technological, and rulemaking requirements for

implementation;

     (5) Safeguards against adverse selection and program abuse, including waiting periods,

minimum participation periods, and limitations on enrollment and re-enrollment; and

     (6) Recommended statutory and regulatory changes necessary to implement any program

proposed in the report.

     SECTION 2. Sections 28-41-34 and 28-41-35 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-41

entitled "Temporary Disability Insurance — Benefits" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     28-41-34. Temporary caregiver insurance. [Effective January 1, 2026.]

     The purpose of this chapter is to establish, within the state temporary disability insurance

program, a temporary caregiver insurance program to provide wage replacement benefits in

accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to workers who take time off work to care for a

seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, parent-in-law, care recipient

grandparent, grandchild, or to bond with a new child.

     Definitions as used in this chapter:

     (1) “Adopted child” means a child adopted by, or placed for adoption with, the employee.

     (2) “Bonding or bond” means to develop a psychological and emotional attachment

between a child and the child’s parent(s) or persons who stand in loco parentis. This shall involve

being in one another’s physical presence.

     (3) “Bone marrow transplant donor” means an individual from whose body bone marrow

is taken to be transferred to the body of another person.

     (4) "Care recipient" means a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing

or arranging health or safety related care including, but not limited to, helping the person obtain

diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health treatment.

     (4)(5) “Child” means a biological, adopted, or foster son or daughter, a stepson or

stepdaughter, a legal ward, a son or daughter of a domestic partner, or a son or daughter of an

employee who stands in loco parentis to that child.

     (5)(6) “Department” means the department of labor and training.

     (6)(7) “Domestic partner” means a party to a civil union as defined by chapter 3.1 of title

15.

     (7)(8) “Employee” means any person who is or has been employed by an employer subject

to chapters 39 — 41 of this title and in employment subject to those chapters.\

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     (9) "Grandchild" means the child of the employee's child.

     (8)(10) “Grandparent” means a parent of the employee’s parent.

     (9)(11) “Living organ donor” means an individual who donates all or part of an organ and

is not deceased.

     (10)(12) “Newborn child” means a child under one year of age.

     (11)(13) “Parent” means a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a stepparent, a legal

guardian, or other person who stands in loco parentis to the employee or the employee’s spouse or

domestic partner when they were a child.

     (12)(14) “Parent-in-law” means the parent of the employee’s spouse or domestic partner.

     (13)(15) “Persons who stand in loco parentis” means those with day-to-day responsibilities

to care for and financially support a child or, in the case of an employee, who had such

responsibility for the employee when the employee was a child. A biological or legal relationship

shall not be required.

     (14)(16) “Serious health condition” means any illness, injury, impairment, or physical or

mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, residential healthcare facility,

or continued treatment or continuing supervision by a licensed healthcare provider.

     (15)(17) “Sibling” means children with a common parent, including biological siblings,

half-siblings, step-siblings, foster siblings, and adopted siblings.

     (16)(18) “Spouse” means a party in a common law marriage, a party in a marriage

conducted and recognized by another state or country, or in a marriage as defined by chapter 3 of

title 15.

     28-41-35. Benefits. [Effective January 1, 2026.]

     (a) Subject to the conditions set forth in this chapter, an employee shall be eligible for

temporary caregiver benefits for any week in which the employee is unable to perform their regular

and customary work because the employee is:

     (1) Bonding with a newborn child or a child newly placed for adoption or foster care with

the employee or domestic partner in accordance with the provisions of § 28-41-36(c);

     (2) Caring for a child, grandchild, parent, parent-in-law, care recipient, grandparent,

spouse, domestic partner, or sibling who has a serious health condition, subject to a waiting period

in accordance with the provisions of § 28-41-12 [repealed]. Employees may use accrued sick time

during the eligibility waiting period in accordance with the policy of the individual’s employer; or

     (3) Participating as a bone marrow transplant donor or a living organ donor.

     (b) Temporary caregiver benefits shall be available only to the employee exercising their

right to leave while covered by the temporary caregiver insurance program. An employee shall file

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a written intent with their employer, in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the

department, with a minimum of thirty (30) days’ notice prior to commencement of the family leave.

Failure by the employee to provide the written intent may result in delay or reduction in the

claimant’s benefits, except in the event the time of the leave is unforeseeable or the time of the

leave changes for unforeseeable circumstances.

     (c) Employees cannot file for both temporary caregiver benefits and temporary disability

benefits for the same purpose, concurrently, in accordance with all provisions of this act and

chapters 39 — 41 of this title.

     (d) Temporary caregiver benefits may be available to any individual exercising their right

to leave while covered by the temporary caregiver insurance program, commencing on or after

January 1, 2014, which shall not exceed the individual’s maximum benefits in accordance with

chapters 39 — 41 of this title. The benefits for the temporary caregiver program shall be payable

with respect to the first day of leave taken after the waiting period and each subsequent day of leave

during that period of family temporary disability leave. Benefits shall be in accordance with the

following:

     (1) Beginning January 1, 2014, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of four (4) weeks in a benefit year;

     (2) Beginning January 1, 2022, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of five (5) weeks in a benefit year;

     (3) Beginning January 1, 2023, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of six (6) weeks in a benefit year;

     (4) Beginning January 1, 2025, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of seven (7) weeks in a benefit year; and

     (5) Beginning January 1, 2026, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of eight (8) weeks in a benefit year.

     (6) Beginning January 1, 2027, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of ten (10) weeks in a benefit year; and

     (7) Beginning January 1, 2028, temporary caregiver benefits shall be limited to a maximum

of twelve (12) weeks in a benefit year.

     (e) In addition, no individual shall be paid temporary caregiver benefits and temporary

disability benefits that together exceed thirty (30) times the individual’s weekly benefit rate in any

benefit year.

     (f) Any employee who exercises their right to leave covered by temporary caregiver

insurance under this chapter shall, upon the expiration of that leave, be entitled to be restored by

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the employer to the position held by the employee when the leave commenced, or to a position with

equivalent seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of

employment including fringe benefits and service credits that the employee had been entitled to at

the commencement of leave.

     (g) During any caregiver leave taken pursuant to this chapter, the employer shall maintain

any existing health benefits of the employee in force for the duration of the leave as if the employee

had continued in employment continuously from the date the employee commenced the leave until

the date the caregiver benefits terminate; provided, however, that the employee shall continue to

pay any employee shares of the cost of health benefits as required prior to the commencement of

the caregiver benefits.

     (h) No individual shall be entitled to waiting period credit or temporary caregiver benefits

under this section for any week beginning prior to January 1, 2014. An employer may require an

employee who is entitled to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, Pub. L. No.

103-3 and/or the Rhode Island parental and family medical leave act, § 28-48-1 et seq., who

exercises their right to benefits under the temporary caregiver insurance program under this chapter,

to take any temporary caregiver benefits received, concurrently, with any leave taken pursuant to

the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and/or the Rhode Island parental and family medical

leave act.

     (i) Temporary caregiver benefits shall be in accordance with the federal Family and

Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Pub. L. No. 103-3 and the Rhode Island parental and family medical

leave act in accordance with § 28-48-1 et seq. An employer may require an employee who is entitled

to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, Pub. L. No. 103-3 and/or the Rhode

Island parental and family medical leave act, § 28-48-1 et seq., who exercises their right to benefits

under the temporary caregiver insurance program under this chapter, to take any temporary

caregiver benefits received, concurrently, with any leave taken pursuant to the federal Family and

Medical Leave Act and/or the Rhode Island parental and family medical leave act.

     (j) In the event the individual is participating as a bone marrow transplant donor or a living

organ donor, benefits under this section shall cover time needed for any procedures, medical tests,

and surgeries related to the donation, including no more than five (5) business days of recovery

from a bone marrow transplant or no more than thirty (30) business days’ recovery from a living

organ donor transplant.

     SECTION 3. 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 -- TEMPORARY DISABILITY

INSURANCE -- GENERAL PROVISIONS

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     This act would expand the benefit definitions of temporary care giver leave to include a

grandchild and care recipient and would increase a leave benefits period to ten (10) weeks for 2027

and twelve (12) weeks for 2028.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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