PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island companies would be allowed to pay their workers every two weeks rather than each week, under a proposal that now heads to Governor Chafee for his action.
The state House of Representatives gave final passage to the measure Wednesday on a 51 to 11 vote.
The provision would impact companies "whose average payroll exceeds 200 percent of the state minimum wage," which will rise to $8 an hour in January, under legislation that has also cleared the Assembly this year.
Companies paying employees less than that amount would be allowed to petition the state for permission to pay workers bi-weekly.
The bill, introduced by Senate Corporations Committee Chairman Roger Picard, D-Woonsocket, would be effective Jan. 1, 2014.
House lawmakers said they supported the Senate-passed version of the measure, even as they argued that their chamber's proposal was simpler and therefore better for the business community, which has long sought the ability to pay workers on the same schedule as they do in many other states.
"Half a loaf is better than none," said state Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick. "But it's frustrating that the chamber across the hall keeps taking our bills and making them worse."