HB 8578 Rhode Island House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- FAMILY CAREGIVERS SUPPORT ACT OF 2013

This bill, known as the Family Caregivers Support Act of 2013, aims to protect employees who care for family members from discrimination in the workplace. It makes it illegal for employers to refuse to hire someone, fire them, or penalize them in any way because of their caregiving duties. The law also requires employers to consider requests for flexible schedules or remote work to handle medical appointments and therapy, unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the business. Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees have some flexibility if they can prove that meeting these requests would be too burdensome. If a caregiver believes their rights were violated, the Human Rights Commission is authorized to investigate and order remedies such as reinstatement, back pay, and compensation.
Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
May 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced May 22, 2026 Last action Jun 2, 2026
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Jun 2, 2026
Committee
06/02/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
legislature
May 22, 2026
Introduced
05/22/2026 Introduced, referred to House Labor
lower
10 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors