--- title: "Rhode Island Wage, Overtime & Meal Break Law 2026" description: "Rhode Island minimum wage is $16, overtime 1.5x after 40 hours, plus Sunday and holiday premium pay. A 20-minute meal break applies. Employer guide." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law --- United States · Rhode Island · Wage & hour child Served by Teamed US Inc., Delaware · Payroll via SUNA Solutions # How do *Rhode Island wage, overtime and meal break laws* work in 2026? Rhode Island's minimum wage is $16, overtime is 1.5 times pay after 40 hours, and it is the one state that still pays a Sunday and holiday premium on top. Last reviewed 6 June 2026 · Rhode Island, United States guide ![Providence, Rhode Island skyline at dusk over the Providence River, the Superman Building and State House dome lit above WaterFire braziers on the water.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law/images/hero.webp) Illustration · Providence, Rhode Island Rhode Island is not a follow-the-federal-floor state. The minimum wage is **$16** an hour in 2026, well above the federal rate, with a tipped cash wage of **$3.89** an hour where tips bring total pay to the full $16. Full schedule at the [RI Department of Labor and Training](https://dlt.ri.gov/employers/workplace-health-and-safety-regulations/wage-and-hour). Overtime is **1.5 times pay after 40 hours** in a week, with no daily overtime. The rule that catches out-of-state employers is premium pay: Rhode Island is the only state that still requires **1.5 times pay for Sunday and holiday work**, separate from overtime. That sits under [RIGL 25-3-3](https://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/title-25/chapter-25-3/section-25-3-3/), which no other state still carries. ## What is the Rhode Island minimum wage in 2026? The Rhode Island minimum wage is **$16 an hour** in 2026, set by state statute and well above the federal floor. It rose from $15 in 2025 and is scheduled to reach $17 in 2027. Tipped staff can be paid a cash wage of **$3.89 an hour** if tips bring total pay to $16. If they fall short, you make up the difference that pay period. Rhode Island legislates its own rate on a published schedule under [RIGL 28-12-3 (RI DLT)](https://dlt.ri.gov/employers/workplace-health-and-safety-regulations/wage-and-hour), so unlike a federal-floor state the figure moves most years. The $16 rate took effect on 1 January 2026 and a further rise to $17 is already written into law for 2027, so multi-year contracts should be priced against the step-up, not today's number. Compare how neighbouring [Massachusetts handles minimum wage](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/massachusetts/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law) if you are hiring across New England. The tip credit is the calculation that bites. A tipped worker paid $3.89 in cash must reach $16 an hour once tips are counted, and the burden of proving they did sits with you. The [US DOL Wage & Hour tip-credit rules](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-flsa-tipped-employees) set the federal floor the tip credit cannot breach. Track tips against the state floor each pay period and top up any shortfall, or the whole credit can be disallowed in an audit. ## How does overtime work in Rhode Island? Rhode Island pays overtime at **1.5 times** the regular rate after **40 hours in a workweek**, under RIGL 28-12-4.1. There is **no daily overtime**, so a long single shift carries no premium on hours alone. The real surprise is on top of overtime. Rhode Island still requires **1.5 times pay for work on Sundays and listed holidays**, separate from the 40-hour week, and it is the only state that does. RI Department of Labor & Training · RIGL 28-12-4.1 Hire a non-exempt worker in Providence and you owe 1.5x their regular rate for every hour past 40 in the workweek. No daily cap applies. On top of that, any Sunday or holiday shift triggers a separate 1.5x premium under [RIGL 25-3-3](https://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/title-25/chapter-25-3/section-25-3-3/) that no other state still carries. Source: [Rhode Island General Laws 28-12-4.1, overtime pay](https://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/title-28/chapter-28-12/section-28-12-4-1/) · [RI DLT Wage & Hour](https://dlt.ri.gov/employers/workplace-health-and-safety-regulations/wage-and-hour) Because there is no daily overtime, a four-day, ten-hour roster carries no premium if the week lands at 40 hours. The premium-pay rule is where the cost sits. A non-retail employer pays both the Sunday or holiday 1.5x premium and weekly overtime, calculated separately, so a Sunday inside a long week is paid at the premium twice over. Retail employers, as defined by the 2025 regulations, exclude those Sunday and holiday hours from the weekly overtime count instead, so the two do not stack. If you are comparing RI's approach, see how [Connecticut handles overtime](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/connecticut/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law) for a neighbouring benchmark. The [US DOL Wage & Hour FLSA overtime rules](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime) set the federal floor both states sit above. ## What are the meal and rest break rules in Rhode Island? Rhode Island requires a **20-minute meal break within a six-hour shift**, and a 30-minute meal break within an eight-hour shift, under RIGL 28-3-14. The break can be unpaid if the employee is fully relieved of duty. The mandate applies to employers with five or more employees. It does not cover licensed health-care facilities, or a worksite with fewer than three people on a shift, where no meal break is required. The meal-break rule is real and enforced under [RIGL 28-3-14](https://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/title-28/chapter-28-3/section-28-3-14/), which sets Rhode Island apart from most states that mandate nothing for adults. A 20-minute meal period is owed within a six-hour shift, stepping up to 30 minutes within an eight-hour shift. The break is unpaid only if the employee is genuinely relieved of duty; a working lunch at a desk or station is paid time and folds into the 40-hour overtime count. The [US DOL Wage & Hour guidance on hours worked](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked) governs when interrupted breaks become compensable under the FLSA. There is no separate paid rest-break statute, so the meal period is the one to schedule and document. The exposure is the interrupted break: if you dock the meal period but the employee keeps working, that time is compensable, and across a year it adds up to back-pay. Either protect the break or pay for it. You can track meal-break scheduling alongside your [Rhode Island paid leave obligations](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/paid-family-and-sick-leave) inside Teamed's platform so nothing slips between the two. ## Who is exempt under federal law in Rhode Island? An employee is exempt from overtime only if they are paid at least **$684 a week** (**$35,568 a year**) on a salary basis and meet the federal duties test for an executive, administrative or professional role. Salary alone is not enough. A worker earning over $684 a week who does not meet the duties test is still non-exempt, owed overtime after 40 hours and the Sunday or holiday premium where it applies. The $684 weekly threshold is the 2019 federal level, restored after the 2024 increase was struck down by a federal court and formally rolled back by the [US Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime) in May 2026. Rhode Island sets no higher state salary bar of its own, so the in-force 2026 figure is $684 a week, not the higher number some payroll tables still show. The FLSA duties tests that accompany the salary bar are published in full on [DOL Fact Sheet 17A](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17a-overtime). Misclassification is the expensive Rhode Island error, because the exemption is what switches off both overtime and the premium-pay rule. If the salary or duties test is not met, every over-40-hour week and every unpaid Sunday or holiday becomes back-pay, often doubled as liquidated damages. Test the duties, not just the salary, before you classify anyone as exempt. Wrong classification also affects your [Rhode Island unemployment insurance](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance) calculations, since UI is owed on all covered wages. When you are unsure, use the [Employer Cost Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost) to model total cost under each classification before you decide. ## How Teamed runs Rhode Island wage and hour compliance Teamed becomes your legal employer of record in Rhode Island for [**from $599 per employee per month flat**](/pricing). **Zero FX mark-up**. We run the timesheet-to-payslip path so overtime, the $16 floor, premium pay and the tip credit are calculated correctly, every cycle. You set the schedule. Teamed applies the 1.5x rate after 40 hours, the 1.5x Sunday and holiday premium, and the 20-minute meal break, and tests every salaried hire against the $684 exemption bar before it becomes back-pay. Everything runs on **one platform**. **Real HR and legal experts** with deep employment-law experience handle your Rhode Island hires and know the Sunday and holiday premium, the retail versus non-retail split, the tip-credit top-up and the exemption bar by heart. **An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue.** Overtime, premium pay and any tip make-up are computed and **pass through at cost, itemised** on every invoice. **No setup fee, no exit fee.** Contractor onboarding, [EOR payroll](/lp/employer-of-record) and entity graduation all live on **one platform**: a Rhode Island contractor who converts to W-2 keeps their record, and that same employee can **graduate** to your own US entity without switching systems. Use the [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) to see the month the model flips. Before you decide, check the [Employer Cost Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost) to see payroll tax, UI contributions and overtime loaded into one number. Read how [Rhode Island termination law](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/termination-law-and-at-will-exceptions) interacts with your EOR agreement, and review [the full US hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/united-states) if you are expanding beyond Rhode Island. Teamed's [from $599 flat rate](/pricing) covers all of it. EOR is the right model for a first Rhode Island hire, **until it isn't**. Teamed Client Operations The Rhode Island mistake we see most is the Sunday shift. Employers from other states assume premium pay disappeared years ago, so they pay the flat rate for Sunday and holiday work. Rhode Island is the one state where it never went away, and for a non-retail employer it stacks on top of overtime. Get the retail definition and the premium wrong and a single Sunday inside a long week is paid twice, as back-pay. A note from Tom Price-Daniel Most states stopped paying a Sunday premium decades ago. Rhode Island never did. A $16 floor, 1.5 times pay after 40 hours, and 1.5 times for Sunday and holiday work on top. The catch is who counts as retail and who counts as exempt. Get either wrong and the smallest state hands you a back-pay bill. Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed ## Related United States guides - [Rhode Island state tax & unemployment insurance](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/state-income-tax-and-unemployment-insurance)sibling - [Rhode Island paid family & sick leave](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/paid-family-and-sick-leave)sibling - [Rhode Island termination law & at-will exceptions](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/rhode-island/termination-law-and-at-will-exceptions)sibling - [Hiring in the United States, overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states)country parent - [Massachusetts wage & overtime law](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/massachusetts/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law)neighbour - [Connecticut wage & overtime law](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/connecticut/wage-overtime-and-meal-break-law)neighbour - [Employer of Record overview](/lp/employer-of-record)core - [Pricing, Zero FX Fixed](/pricing)core - [EOR vs Entity Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator)tool - [Employer Cost Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost)tool - [Talk to an expert](https://www.teamed.global/contact)CTA A note on this page. This is a guide, not legal advice. Rhode Island's minimum wage, overtime, Sunday and holiday premium pay, and meal-break rules sit in RIGL Titles 25 and 28 and the RI Department of Labor and Training's regulations, and can change when the legislature or the department acts. The federal exemption salary threshold sits with the US Department of Labor and can change when a rule is finalised or a court rules. Confirm specific figures with the RI Department of Labor and Training, the US Department of Labor or your Teamed US specialist before relying on any number here.