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S2504ALabor Relations

Labor and Labor Relations - Warehouse Worker Protection Act

Requires large warehouses to disclose productivity quotas to employees and ensures those quotas do not prevent breaks or bathroom use.

Introduced34 Yea4 Nay0 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Labor & Gaming

Plain-English Summary

This bill creates the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act" to establish new labor rules for large warehouse distribution centers. It requires employers to clearly disclose any productivity quotas and performance metrics to employees in writing. Employers are prohibited from enforcing quotas that prevent workers from taking necessary meal breaks, rest periods, or using the bathroom. It also gives employees the right to request their own work speed data. The bill protects workers from retaliation for exercising these rights and authorizes the Department of Labor and Training to enforce the rules and issue civil penalties.

For younger readers

Imagine if you were told to clean your entire room in five minutes, but you weren't allowed to take a bathroom break. This new rule says big warehouses cannot do that to their workers. Bosses have to tell workers exactly how much work they are expected to do and how fast. The bosses also can't make the goals so hard that workers don't have time to eat lunch, rest, or use the bathroom safely. If workers ask, they can see how fast they are working, and bosses cannot punish them for asking.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Warehouse employeesLarge warehouse operatorsTemporary staffing agenciesDistribution center managersDepartment of Labor and Training
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill regulates employment conditions, specifically productivity quotas and basic labor protections, which falls well within the state's police power to regulate commerce and labor. It does not appear to violate free speech, due process, or search and seizure protections.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects vulnerable warehouse workers from exploitative labor practices by ensuring productivity quotas do not interfere with basic human needs like bathroom breaks and meals.
  • Increases workplace transparency by requiring employers to clearly disclose performance metrics and giving employees the right to access their own work speed data.
  • Provides strong anti-retaliation protections and enforcement mechanisms, empowering workers to stand up for their rights against large corporate employers without fear of losing their jobs.
  • Limits protections to employees at very large warehouse facilities, leaving workers at smaller companies completely unprotected from abusive quota systems.
  • Restricts employees from requesting their performance data to only once every 90 days, which limits their ability to continuously monitor how they are being evaluated.
  • Limits direct employee lawsuits primarily to injunctive relief, relying heavily on the state labor department to assess and enforce monetary damages and penalties.
For Conservatives
  • Mandates clear, written expectations for employees regarding their productivity, which can reduce workplace confusion and ensure workers know exactly what is required of them.
  • Protects employers from excessive administrative burdens by limiting employee data requests to only once every 90 days.
  • Explicitly excludes qualitative performance assessments and general personnel records from data disclosure requirements, protecting sensitive management evaluations.
  • Imposes heavy regulatory burdens on private businesses by dictating how they manage employee productivity, potentially hindering operational efficiency.
  • Creates a presumption of guilt against employers if adverse action occurs within 90 days of an employee exercising their rights, unfairly shifting the burden of proof onto the business.
  • Increases the risk of costly litigation and state intervention, allowing employees to sue for injunctive relief and attorney's fees over internal quota disputes.

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.

(C) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable 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.