The Rhode Island Senate has unanimously passed legislation creating a new formula for determining a totally and partially disabled injured workers' weekly benefit entitlement. The act also eliminates the current ambiguity in an injured workers' entitlement, when he or she suffers a recurrence of disability. The measure is SB 937 – Rhode Island Senate (2021).

Currently, when a worker is injured on the job and has returned to work for 26 weeks or more and suffers a recurrence of the injury, the weekly average wage is calculated by dividing gross wages earned by the number of calendar weeks during which the worker was employed.

The bill would allow a worker to use the same formula to calculate the average weekly wage as was used in the 13 weeks prior to the recurrence. If signed into law, this section of the bill would be immediately effective.