Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 28-7 - Labor Relations Act

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the labor relations board created by § 28-7-4. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Company union: means any committee employee representation plan or association of employees that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances or terms and conditions of employment, that the employer has initiated or created or whose initiation or creation he or she has suggested, participated in or in the formulation of whose governing rules or policies or the conducting of whose management, operations, or elections the employer participates in or supervises, or which the employer maintains, finances, controls, dominates, or assists in maintaining or financing, whether by compensating any one for services performed in its behalf or by donating free services, equipment, materials, office or meeting space or anything else of value, or by any other means. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Department: means the department of labor and training. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Director: means the director of labor and training or his or her designee unless specifically stated otherwise. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
• Employee: means any person who has entered into the employment of or works under contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer, except that in the case of a city or town other than the city of Providence it shall only mean that class or those classes of employees as may be designated by a city, town, or regional school district in a manner provided in this chapter to receive compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
• Employees: includes , but is not restricted to, any individual employed by a labor organization; any individual whose employment has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice, and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment; and shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the chapter explicitly states otherwise;

  (ii)  "Employees" does not include any individual employed by his or her parent or spouse or in the domestic service of any person in his or her home, or any individuals employed only for the duration of a labor dispute, or any individuals employed as farm laborers; provided that, any individual employed by an employer in an industry established or regulated pursuant to chapters 28. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3

• Employer: includes any person acting on behalf of or in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly, with or without his or her knowledge, but a labor organization or any officer or its agent shall only be considered an employer with respect to individuals employed by the organization. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Labor dispute: includes , but is not restricted to, any controversy between employers and employees or their representatives as defined in this section concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of employment or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to negotiate, fix, maintain, or change terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the violation of any of the rights granted or affirmed by this chapter, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Labor organization: means any organization that exists and is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining, or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection and which is not a company union as defined in this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Person: includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Policies of this chapter: means the policies set forth in § 28-7-2. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Representatives: includes a labor organization or an individual whether or not employed by the employer of those whom he or she represents. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Unfair labor practice: means only those unfair labor practices listed in § 28-7-13 and Rhode Island General Laws 28-7-3
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8