H7364ALabor Relations

Labor and Labor Relations - Warehouse Worker Protection Act

This bill regulates work quotas at large warehouses, ensuring quotas do not prevent meal breaks, rest, or bathroom use.

Introduced35 Yea3 Nay0 Not voting

Population
Affected

Introduced Jan 28, 2026Committee House Labor

Plain-English Summary

This bill creates the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act" to regulate work quotas in large warehouse distribution centers. It requires employers to give workers written descriptions of any work quotas and a two-day notice before changing them. The bill prohibits quotas that prevent workers from taking meal breaks, rest periods, or using the bathroom. It also gives employees the right to request their own work speed data and the anonymous data of similar workers. Finally, it protects employees from retaliation for exercising these rights and allows the Department of Labor and Training to enforce the rules.

For younger readers

This bill makes rules for big warehouses where people pack and ship boxes. Sometimes, bosses tell workers they must pack a certain number of boxes every hour. This is called a "quota." The bill says bosses must write down these quotas so workers know exactly what is expected. It also says bosses cannot make the quota so high that workers don't have time to eat lunch, take a break, or go to the bathroom. Workers are allowed to ask to see their speed records, and bosses cannot punish them for asking.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Warehouse workersWarehouse and distribution center employersDepartment of Labor and TrainingTemporary staffing agenciesHuman resources professionals

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. Regulating employment conditions, quotas, and providing for breaks falls squarely within the state's police power to regulate labor and commerce. The regulations apply to businesses of a certain size, which is a common and legally permissible classification in labor law. There are no obvious First Amendment, Due Process, or Fourth Amendment issues.

Estimated cost

None

Estimated revenue

Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Protects vulnerable workers from exploitative corporate practices by ensuring unrealistic productivity quotas do not deprive them of basic human needs like bathroom breaks and meal periods.
Empowers employees with transparency by granting them the legal right to access their own work speed data and aggregated data of their peers, leveling the information playing field against large corporations.
Establishes strong anti-retaliation protections, including a 90-day rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation, ensuring workers can advocate for their rights without fear of losing their jobs.
Limits the frequency of data requests to only once every 90 days, which may restrict workers' ability to monitor their performance in real-time or build a timely case against unfair practices.
Only applies to large employers with 100 or more employees at a single site or 1,000 or more statewide, leaving workers at smaller warehouse facilities completely unprotected from these abusive quota practices.
Delays the effective date of the legislation until January 1, 2027, forcing warehouse workers to endure potentially unsafe and exploitative working conditions for several more years before receiving legal protection.

For Conservatives

Explicitly states that employers are not required to use quotas or monitor work speed data, ensuring businesses that do not use these metrics are not burdened with unnecessary tracking or reporting requirements.
Limits employee data requests to once every 90 days, protecting businesses from being overwhelmed by constant, frivolous administrative requests from disgruntled workers.
Restricts the rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation to a strict 90-day window, after which the burden of proof shifts back to the employee, protecting employers from indefinite legal liabilities.
Imposes burdensome new regulatory mandates on large businesses, requiring them to document and disclose detailed quota metrics and provide 48-hour advance notice before adjusting operational standards.
Opens the door for increased litigation against employers by allowing employees to sue for injunctive relief and recover attorney's fees, which could lead to frivolous lawsuits and higher legal costs for businesses.
Grants the government sweeping authority to intervene in private business operations by allowing the Department of Labor and Training to assess damages and civil penalties over internal productivity standards.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 88 additions

SECTION 1. Title 28 of the General Laws entitled "LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 28-61-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act". 28-61-2. Definitions. As used in this chapter:

(1) "Defined time period" means any unit of time measurement equal to or less than the duration of an employee's shift, and includes hours, minutes, and seconds and any fraction thereof.

(2) "Department" means the department of labor and training.

(3) "Director" means director of the department of labor and training.

(4) "Employee" means a nonexempt employee who works at a warehouse distribution center. (5)(i) "Employee work speed data" means information an employer collects, stores, analyzes, or interprets relating to an individual employee's performance of a quota, including, but not limited to, quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items or materials handled or produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee performance in relation to a quota, and time categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks.

(ii) "Employee work speed data" does not include qualitative performance assessments, personnel records, or itemized wage statements, except for any content of those records that includes employee work speed data, as defined in this definition.

(6) "Employer" means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary service, or staffing agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of one hundred (100) or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or one thousand (1,000) or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state.

(7) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.

(8) "Quota" means a work standard under which an employee is assigned or required to perform at a specified productivity speed, or perform a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or produce a quantified amount of material, within a defined time period and under which the employee may suffer an adverse employment action, if the employee fails to complete the performance standard. (9)(i) "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as defined by any of the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes, however that establishment is denominated:

(A) 493110 for General Warehousing and Storage.

(B) 423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods.

(D) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses. 28-61-3. Disclosure of quotas.

(a) Each employer shall provide to each employee, upon hire, a written description of each quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period, and any potential adverse employment action that could result from the failure to meet the quota. The requirement to disclose also applies to any changes in the quota.

(b) Nothing in this section requires an employer to use quotas or monitor work speed data. An employer that does not monitor this data, has no obligation to provide it.

(c) New or modified quotas shall be disclosed in writing at least two (2) days in advance or their implementation and include notice of the effective date. No disciplinary action which relates to an employee's compliance with a new or modified quota shall be taken until at least two

(2) days following the required written disclosure. 28-61-4. Meals and rest periods. An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom facilities, or occupational health and safety laws in the labor laws or department standards. An employer shall not take adverse employment action against an employee for failure to meet a quota that does not allow a worker to comply with meal and rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or occupational health and safety laws, labor laws, or for failure to meet a quota that has not been disclosed to an employee. 28-61-5. Employee information request.

(a) Employees may request from the employer the written description of the quota, and a copy of the employee's own speed data as well as the aggregated work speed data for comparable employees working in the facility.

(b) Upon request from an employee under subsection (a) of this section, the employer shall have twenty-one (21) days to provide information on the employee's own speed data as well as the aggregated work speed data for comparable employees working in the facility. Each employee can make no more than one request for data every ninety (90) days unless there is a pending disciplinary action or the request is made contemporaneous with an employee performance review. The employer shall include, on its written notice of new or modified quotas, the manner in which an employee can request this data. 28-61-6. Unlawful retaliation. There shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer in any manner discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action against any employee because an employee exercises their rights pursuant to this chapter. The rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation shall only be in place for ninety (90) days following the employee's exercise of rights under this chapter or the termination of their employment. Following that, the employee's burden of proof shall be a preponderance of evidence standard. 28-61-7. Enforcement.

(a) The department of labor and training shall adopt rules to implement and enforce this chapter. The director shall be authorized to enforce this chapter and to assess damages payable to the employee and civil penalties.

(b) A current or former employee may bring an action for injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this chapter and may, upon prevailing, recover costs and reasonable attorney's fees. 28-61-8. Severability. The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.