Rhode Island General Laws Title 40. Human Services § 40-8.15-7. Certification and decertification of provider organization

(a) Petitions to certify a provider organization to serve as the provider representative of individual providers; petitions to intervene in such an election; and any other petitions for investigation of controversies as to representation may be filed with and acted upon by the labor relations board in accordance with the provisions of chapter 7 of title 28 and the board's rules and regulations; provided, that any valid petition as to whether individual providers wish to certify or decertify a provider representative shall be resolved by a secret ballot election among individual providers for which purpose the board may designate a neutral third party to conduct the secret ballot election.

(b) The only appropriate unit shall consist of all individual providers in the state.

(c) For purposes of this section, no individual provider shall be deemed excluded from the bargaining unit under § 28-7-3(3)(ii) because he or she provides care to a family member or because they are in domestic service in a person's home.

(d) The cost of any certification election held under this section will be split equally among all the provider organizations that appear on the ballot.