PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Over the objections of organized labor, a Senate committee has approved a bill that would relieve private-sector employers from having to pay their workers weekly.
The vote by the Senate Labor Committee was 9-to-2 for the legislation, after Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere came into the Senate lounge to join the majority voting in favor of the bill.
The only nay votes came from Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael McCaffrey. A third member of the leadership team - Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin - said she voted for the bill simply to get it before the full Senate, but intends to vote against it when it got there because her constituents need a weekly paychecks.
Current law requires that all other Rhode Island employees be paid weekly all due wages from his or her employer, "except those employees whose compensation is fixed at a biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, or yearly rate.'' There are exceptions for a handful of other groups, including public employees, and those working for companies that have more than 2,500 employees.
The legislation that cleared the Senate Labor Committee would also open the door for employers whose "average payroll exceeds two hundred percent of the state minimum wage...to pay wages less frequently than weekly.''
The House has passed its own version of the bill, which is a high priority for certain sectors of the business community.