{"data":{"id":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-28-48-1","jurisdiction":"us-ri","citation":"R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-48-1","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in this chapter, the following words and terms have the following meanings:\n(1) “Director” means the director of the department of labor and training.\n(2) “Employee” means any full-time employee who works an average of thirty (30) or more hours per week.\n(3) “Employer” means and includes:\n(i) Any person, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or other business entity who or that employs fifty (50) or more employees;\n(ii) The state of Rhode Island, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and any state department or agency that employs any employees;\n(iii) Any city or town or municipal agency that employs thirty (30) or more employees; and\n(iv) Any person who acts directly or indirectly in the interest of any employer.\n(4) “Family leave” means leave by reason of the serious illness of a family member.\n(5) “Family member” means a parent, spouse, child, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or the employee himself or herself, and with respect to employees of the state as defined in subsection (3)(ii), shall include domestic partners as defined in § 36-12-1(3).\n(6) “Parental leave” means leave by reason of the birth of a child of an employee or the placement of a child sixteen (16) years of age or less with an employee in connection with the adoption of the child by the employee.\n(7) “Serious illness” means a disabling physical or mental illness, injury, impairment, or condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, a nursing home, or a hospice, or outpatient care requiring continuing treatment or supervision by a healthcare provider.","path":["Title 28 Labor and Labor Relations","Chapter 48 Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act"],"source_url":"https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE28/28-48/28-48-1.htm","current_through":"site files published 2025-08-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T19:58:03Z","sha256":"1ff9dfcb2046b020e6246c4f8bcc6580f75bd8128e7a9939e8db3452c1dc82c4","source_id":"us-ri","stale":true,"prev":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-28-47-15","next":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-28-48-2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}