About the Report

Download Report

The report provides new evidence on Rhode Island’s (RI) Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) law, which took effect in January 2014, based on a survey of small and medium-sized businesses in the food services and manufacturing sectors in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts that the researchers carried out in December 2013 (just before the law came into effect) and in January/February 2015 (one year after the law came into effect). The researchers collected information about firm characteristics and productivity, employee life events and workflow, and employer provided benefits. Comparing Rhode Island employers pre-and post-law to Massachusetts and Connecticut employers over the same time period, they found little evidence of significant impacts of the law on employers (although they note that the sample size for these estimates was small; 104 employers in Rhode Island, and 133 in the other two states combined). They also asked Rhode Island employers directly about their views towards TCI one year after it came into effect and found that a majority of the 213 Rhode Island employers interviewed in 2015 support the new law. Thus, the results suggest that laws like Rhode Island’s TCI may not have significant impacts on small and medium-sized employers and could garner support by such employers once they have experienced them.

Research Questions

• As other states around the nation consider similar laws, an open question is what impact these types of programs might have on employers, and particularly small businesses, which sometimes are exempt from such legislation (as is the case, for example, with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). How are these firms affected by paid family leave legislation? And how do they view such laws?

Key Takeaways

• Researchers find few significant effects on productivity and a host of related metrics of RI’s TCI program on employers.
• Asking RI employers directly about their views on the TCI program one year after it took effect, a majority (61%) favor TCI (with 15% neutral, and 24% opposed).

Citation

Bartel, A., Rossin-Slater, M., Ruhm, C., Waldfogel, J. (2016). Assessing Rhode Island’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance Act: Insights from a Survey of Employers. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

Download Report

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.