Rhode Island Minimum Wage 2026: $16.00 an Hour ($17.00 in 2027)

(a) Every employer shall pay to each of the employer’s employees: commencing July 1, 1999, at least the minimum wage of five dollars and sixty-five cents ($5.65) per hour. Commencing September 1, 2000, the minimum wage is six dollars and fifteen cents ($6.15) per hour. (b) Commencing January 1, 2004, the minimum wage is six dollars and seventy-five cents ($6.75) per hour. (c) Commencing March 1, 2006, the minimum wage is seven dollars and ten cents ($7.10) per hour. (d) Commencing January 1, 2007, the minimum wage is seven dollars and forty cents ($7.40) per hour. (e) Commencing January 1, 2013, the minimum wage is seven dollars and seventy-five cents ($7.75) per hour. (f) Commencing January 1, 2014, the minimum wage is eight dollars ($8.00) per hour. (g) Commencing January 1, 2015, the minimum wage is nine dollars ($9.00) per hour. (h) Commencing January 1, 2016, the minimum wage is nine dollars and sixty cents ($9.60) per hour. (i) Commencing January 1, 2018, the minimum wage is ten dollars and ten cents ($10.10) per hour. (j) Commencing January 1, 2019, the minimum wage is ten dollars and fifty cents ($10.50) per hour.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

(a) Every employer shall pay to each of the employer’s employees who are engaged in any work or employment in which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted a part of his or her weekly income, the rate as provided by §§ 28-12-3 and 28-12-3.1. (b) Allowance for gratuities as part of the hourly wage rate for restaurants, hotels, and other industries, except taxicabs and limited public motor vehicles, shall be an amount equal to the applicable minimum rates as provided by §§ 28-12-3 and 28-12-3.1 less two dollars and eighty-nine cents ($2.89) per hour. “Gratuities” means voluntary monetary compensation received directly or indirectly by the employee for services rendered.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Every minor, fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) years of age shall be paid at a rate of not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the minimum wages as specified in § 28-12-3; provided, every minor who works in excess of twenty-four (24) hours in any week shall be paid for all hours worked in that week at the hourly rate provided by § 28-12-3 or § 28-12-5(f).

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

As used in this chapter: (1) “Advisory board” means a board created as provided in § 28-12-6. (2) “Commissioner” means the minimum-wage commissioner appointed by the director of labor and training as chief of the division of labor standards. (3) “Director” means the director of labor and training, or the director’s duly authorized representative. (4) “Employ” means to suffer or to permit to work. (5)(i) “Employee” includes any individual suffered or permitted to work by an employer. (ii) “Employee” shall not include: (A) [Deleted by P.L. 2024, ch. 251, § 1 and P.L. 2024, ch.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Any person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter shall be entitled to relief as provided in chapter 14 of this title (“Payment of Wages”).

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Notwithstanding any order or regulation previously issued under chapter 289 of the general laws of 1938, as amended, the director of labor and training may provide by regulation, after a public hearing at which any person may be heard, for the employment in the occupation at the wages lower than the wage rates applicable under this chapter for learners and apprentices as the director of labor and training finds appropriate to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, and to safeguard the wage rates applicable under this chapter. No employee shall be employed at wages fixed pursuant to this section except under special license issued under applicable regulation of the director of labor and training. After a learner or apprentice has been employed for ninety (90) days, he or she shall be paid the rate provided in § 28-12-3, notwithstanding any order or administrative regulation previously issued under chapter 289 of the general laws of 1938.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Any employer who or that discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because the employee has made any complaint to his or her employer, to the director of labor and training, or to his or her authorized representative because: (1) He or she has not been paid wages in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; (2) The employee has caused to be instituted or is about to cause to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter; (3) The employee has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding; or (4) The employee has served, or is about to serve, on a wage board, shall be deemed in violation of this chapter, and shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Also relied on in: Rhode Island Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report

No municipality shall establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to pay a minimum wage to its employees, other than the state or federal mandated minimum wage, or to apply a state or federal minimum wage law to wages statutorily exempt from a state or federal minimum wage requirement.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

(a) Any employee or former employee, or any organization representing the employee or former employee aggrieved by the failure to pay wages and/or benefits or misclassification in violation of chapter 12 of this title and/or this chapter may file a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain relief. An aggrieved party shall be entitled to recover any unpaid wages and/or benefits, compensatory damages, and liquidated damages in an amount up to two (2) times the amount of unpaid wages and/or benefits owed, as well as an award of appropriate equitable relief, including reinstatement of employment, fringe benefits and seniority rights, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and/or such other appropriate relief or penalties authorized under this chapter and chapter 12 of this title. In determining the amount of any penalty imposed under this section, consideration shall be given to the size of the employer’s business, the good faith of the employer, the gravity of the violation, the history of previous violations, and whether or not the violation was an innocent mistake or willful.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

Also relied on in: Rhode Island Final Paycheck Laws: The 1-Year PTO-Payout Mandate

(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. (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.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

(a) It shall be the duty of the director to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter and chapter 12 of this title. The director, or the director’s designee, may investigate any violations thereof, institute or cause to be instituted actions for the collection of wages, and institute action for penalties or other relief as provided for within and pursuant to those chapters. The director, or the director’s authorized representatives, are empowered to hold hearings, and the director or the director’s designee shall cooperate with any employee in the enforcement of a claim against the employee’s employer in any case whenever, in the opinion of the director or the director’s designee, the claim is just and valid. (b) Upon receipt of a complaint or conducting an inspection under applicable law, the director, or the director’s appropriate departmental designee, is authorized to investigate to determine compliance with this chapter and chapter 12 of this title.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

No employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, shall discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee or any other person for asserting, supporting, reporting, or participating in or being asked to participate in the investigation or determination of claim violation or actionable under this chapter or chapter 12 of this title. Any person aggrieved by a violation of this section shall be entitled to relief as provided under chapter 50 of this title (“The Rhode Island Whistleblowers’ Protection Act”), provided, that such action must be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrued or shall be thereafter barred.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at webserver.rilegislature.gov

As used in this chapter— “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. “Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof. “State” means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. “Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the term “employee” means any individual employed by an employer.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 an Hour Since 2009, Minimum Wage by State 2026: All 50 States and DC, Alabama Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, No State Rate

Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates: except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than— $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007; $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day; if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Ohio Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment Formula, the 6-Year Consumer Debt Rule, and Repossession, South Dakota Debt Collection Laws: The 20% Garnishment Cap and 120-Day Lien, Wage Theft in the U.S.: Your Rights Regardless of Immigration Status

After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person— to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206 or section 207 of this title, or in violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section 214 of this title; except that no provision of this chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer, shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report, Employer Threatening to Call Immigration? Your Rights in the U.S., Connecticut Minimum Wage 2026: $16.94 an Hour ($17.48 in 2027)

Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 215 of this title shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a prior offense under this subsection. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title, including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-03 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Unpaid Wages: How to File a Claim and Recover What You're Owed, Independent Contractor vs. Employee: The IRS, DOL and ABC Tests, Alaska Minimum Wage 2026: $14.00 an Hour, $15.00 in July 2027

No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum work week lower than the maximum workweek established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Arizona Minimum Wage 2026: $15.15 Per Hour, $15.65 in 2027, Arkansas Minimum Wage 2026: $11.00 an Hour, Tip Credit Rules, California Minimum Wage 2026: $16.90 an Hour, $17.40 in 2027

Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947, to enforce any cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act 1  See References in Text note below.  — if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, except that a cause of action arising out of a willful violation may be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within whichever of the following periods is the shorter: (1) two years after the cause of action accrued, or (2) the period prescribed by the applicable State statute of limitations; and, except as provided in paragraph (c), every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within the shorter of such two periods; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947, the action shall not be barred by paragraph (b)…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Colorado Minimum Wage 2026: $15.16, $15.71 in 2027, Georgia Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, $5.15 State Rate, Hawaii Minimum Wage 2026: $16.00 an Hour, Next Step $18.00 in 2028