(a)  Any employer who or that violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of the misdemeanor, the employer shall be punished by a fine of not less than four hundred dollars ($400) for each separate offense, or by imprisonment of up to one year, or by both fine and imprisonment. Each day of failure to pay wages due an employee at the time specified in this chapter shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-17

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the department of labor and training. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
  • Employee: means any person suffered or permitted to work by an employer, except that independent contractors or subcontractors shall not be considered employees. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-1
  • Employer: means any individual, firm, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, receiver, or other like officer appointed by a court of this state, and any agent or officer of any of the previously mentioned classes, employing any person in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-1
  • Wages: means all amounts at which the labor or service rendered is recompensed, whether the amount is fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece, commission basis, or other method of calculating the amount. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-1

(b)  Any employer found guilty of violations of this chapter who or that does not pay wages and fines within thirty (30) days of a final decision and after notification by the department of labor and training, may have the employer’s business license revoked by the state of Rhode Island until the employer pays such wages and fines in full or enters into a payment agreement with which the employer stays in compliance.

History of Section.
P.L. 1941, ch. 1069, § 8; G.L. 1956, § 28-14-17; P.L. 2004, ch. 84, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 413, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 449, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 435, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 436, § 2.