(a)  All claims for wages may be filed with the director within three (3) years from the time of services rendered by an employee to his or her employer.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-20

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Director: means the director of the department of labor and training or his or her duly authorized representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-14-1
  • 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
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • 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)  An aggrieved person who alleges a violation of any provision of this chapter may bring a civil action for appropriate injunctive relief or actual damages or both within three (3) years after the occurrence of the alleged violation of this chapter.

(c)  An action commenced pursuant to subsection (b) may be brought in the court for the county where the alleged violation occurred; the county where the complainant resides; or the county where the employer against whom the civil complaint is filed resides or has his, her or its principal place of business.

(d)  As used in subsection (b), damages include two (2) times the wages owed to the employee for the first offense.

(e)  Attorney’s fees, including litigation expenses, may be granted to a prevailing plaintiff.

History of Section.
P.L. 1941, ch. 1069, § 6; G.L. 1956, § 28-14-20; P.L. 1990, ch. 488, § 1; P.L. 1991, ch. 425, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 301, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 435, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 436, § 2.