Legislation

Critical proposed changes to the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act were introduced in two separate pieces of legislation.

This importance piece of anti-discrimination legislation would have amended the state Fair Employment Practices Act to prohibit an employer from requiring that an employee enter a non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreement as a condition of employment.

We supported this legislation which would have generally prohibited employers from using credit history as a component of the hiring process, noting that it could place unnecessary barriers to individual’s seeking employment.

Though we support recreational marijuana legalization, we raised a number of concerns about this bill and called for amendments to strengthen the language.

By granting legal immunity to individuals engaged in commercial sexual activity who report a crime that they are either a victim of or witness to, this legislation would create more comprehensive occupational safety for sex workers.

Rhode Island’s current minimum wage law contains an exemption for “domestic service” workers, a group of employees comprised largely of women, BIPOC individuals, and immigrants; we supported a piece of legislation which would include such workers under the minimum wage requirements.

We opposed legislation that would create a presumption of intoxication if a person is injured or dies on the job and is found, through a blood test, to have alcohol, an unlawfully prescribed drug, or a prescribed drug that has not been used properly in their system.

Critical proposed changes to the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act were introduced in two separate pieces of legislation this year and would make individual employee-supervisors, and not just the company employing them, subject to personal liability for their own acts of discrimination.

We supported a variety of bills introduced this session which would strengthen the Fair Employment Practices Act, protect domestic workers, and prevent an employer from signing a non-disclosure agreement as a condition of employment.