Federal & State Regulations | Time off - Rhode Island | J. J. Keller® Compliance Network

State Info

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, nor does it regulate vacation pay, holiday pay, or other paid time off. These types of benefits are generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee’s representative). Employers, however, do need to comply with applicable state laws.

Attend court proceedings

Rhode Island law provides that employers with 50 or more employees must allow employees who are a victim of a crime to leave work to attend court proceedings related to the crime. Employers are not required to compensate such employees for this leave time. The employee may elect to use or an employer may require the employee to use the employee's accrued paid vacation, personal leave, or sick leave. The employee must not lose seniority or precedence while taking such leave.

The employee must provide the employer with a copy of notification of court proceedings before taking leave. Employers may limit the leave if the leave creates an undue hardship to the employer's business.

Family military leave

The Rhode Island Family Military Leave Act provides unpaid leave for the family of military servicemembers.

Employer coverage

The Rhode Island Family Military Leave Act covers employers with 15 or more employees, the state of Rhode Island, Rhode Island municipalities, and other units of local government.

Employee eligibility

Employees are eligible, much like the federal criteria, if they have been employed with the same employer for at least 12 months and worked for at least 1,250 hours during the preceding 12 months. The law does not indicate that the 12 months worked for the employer need to be consecutive or not.

Leave entitlement

Employers that have 15 to 50 employees must provide up to 15 days of unpaid family military leave. Employers that have 51 or more employees must provide up to 30 days of unpaid family military leave.

Employees must exhaust all accrued vacation leave, personal leave, comp time, and any other leave that may be granted — except sick leave and disability leave — before taking family military leave.

Type of leave

Leave is to be granted to spouses or parents of a person called to military service lasting longer than 30 days with the state or the United States pursuant to the orders of the governor of Rhode Island or the President of the United States.

Maintenance of health benefits

During family military leave, the employer must make it possible for employees to continue their benefits at the employee's expense. The employer and employee may negotiate for the employer to maintain benefits at the employer's expense.

Job restoration

Upon the expiration of leave, employees are entitled to restoration to the position held when the leave commences or to a position with equivalent seniority status, benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. If the employer proves that the employee was not restored because of conditions unrelated to the employee's rights under this law, restoration need not be provided.

Notice

Employees must give at least 14 days’ notice of the intended date leave will begin if the leave is to last five or more consecutive workdays. Where able, the employee must consult with the employer to schedule the leave to not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. If military family leave is for less than five consecutive days, the employee must provide advance notice as is practicable.

The employer may require certification from the proper military authority to verify the employee's eligibility to take the requested leave.

Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces (paid sick leave)

Effective July 1, 2018, many employees are entitled to paid sick leave under the Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act, which was signed into law in September, 2017.

Covered employers

Employers are covered by the law if they have 18 or more employees. This includes anyone suffered or permitted to work. This does not include independent contractors, subcontractors, work-study participants, apprentices, and interns.

Employee eligibility

The individual must be an employee. Paid leave may be taken after a 90-day waiting period. Employees accrue the leave upon hire. Employees accrue one hour of paid leave for every 35 hours worked.

If you would rather not worry about accruals, you may provide lump sums of paid leave. For employees working an average of:

37.5 – 40 hours per week, 8 hours of leave per month for five months
30 hours per week, five hours per month for eight months
24 hours per week, four hours per month for 10 months
20 hours per week, four hours per month for 10 months
16 hours per week, three hours per month for 10 months
10 hours per week, two hours per month for 10 months
Five hours per week, one hour per month for 10 months

Exempt employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week.

Temp employees may take leave after a 180-day waiting period, and seasonal employees may take leave after a 150-day waiting period.

Leave entitlement

Employees may take 40 hours of paid leave.

Reasons for leave

An employee’s condition or need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care
Care of a family member’s need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care
Public health emergency
- Closure of the business due to a public health emergency
- Closure of an employee’s child care place due to a public health emergency
- Employee or family member’s quarantine for exposure to communicable disease (need not have actually contracted the disease)
When the employee or a family member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking

Since it is not specifically prohibited or allowed, it is assumed that if the reason qualifies and the employee is otherwise eligible, the leave would run concurrent with federal FMLA.

Reinstatement

Not specifically indicated, given the nature and duration of the leave. You may not take an adverse action against an employee because the employee used the leave.

Notice

Employees may request leave verbally. You may require employees to provide advance notice when the leave is foreseeable. When leave is not foreseeable, you may require notice, as long as you have a written policy containing procedures for providing notice.

If an employee takes more than three consecutive days of leave, you may require reasonable documentation that the leave was used for a qualifying reason, as long as the you have notified the employee in writing of this requirement before leave began.

Jury duty

Rhode Island law doesn’t require employers to pay employees for jury duty.

Paid time off (PTO)

Rhode Island law does not require vacation pay. However, if an employer chooses to provide paid time off benefits, it must follow the terms and conditions established in its policy.

When an employee, who has completed at least one year of service, is separated from employment, employers must pay any vacation accrued in accordance with company policy.

Pregnancy/menopause accommodations

Under the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act, employers with four or more employees are to accommodate an employee’s or applicant’s condition related to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause (effective June 24, 2025), or a related medical condition, unless they can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose an undue hardship.

Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to take leave if another accommodation can be provided. Accommodations could include more frequent or longer breaks, acquisition or modification of equipment, seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position, job restructuring, light duty, break time, and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk, assistance with manual labor, or modified work schedules.

While it does not provide for a set period of leave, the law includes in its definition of a “reasonable accommodation” time off to recover from childbirth.

You are not required to create a position you would not otherwise have created, unless you would do so for other classes of employees who need accommodation, such as those injured on the job or those with disabilities.

Employers are to provide and post a notice regarding the provisions. Such notice is to be provided to new employees upon hire, and within 10 days of an employee notifying the employer of her pregnancy or menopause (effective June 24, 2025).

School involvement leave

Employees who have been employed by the same employer for 12 consecutive months are entitled to a total of 10 hours of leave during any 12-month period to attend school conferences or other school-related activities for a child. In this situation, the employee is the parent, foster parent, or guardian.

The employee must provide 24 hours’ prior notice of the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as not to unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.

Subpoena

Another provision indicates that if an employee is served with a subpoena to give evidence or testify before any court, within or outside the state of Rhode Island, or before any judicial, quasi-judicial, or other administrative body or entity with the authority to issue subpoenas, the employee is protected from termination or other adverse action regarding the employee’s compensation and other terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment.

The employee is expected to promptly notify the employer of the required court attendance. Employees are not entitled to paid time off to appear in court per the subpoena.

Temporary Caregiver Leave

Employees are entitled to take paid leave to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent, or to bond with a new child.

Benefits are in accordance with the following:

Beginning January 1, 2014, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of four weeks in a benefit year;
Beginning January 1, 2022, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of five weeks in a benefit year;
Beginning January 1, 2023, temporary caregiver benefits were limited to a maximum of six weeks in a benefit year.
Beginning January 1, 2025, temporary caregiver benefits are limited to a maximum of seven weeks in a benefit year.
Beginning January 1, 2026, temporary caregiver benefits are limited to a maximum of eight weeks in a benefit year.

The law amended the state’s temporary disability insurance (TDI) program. The benefit is funded through employee payroll deductions. Employees cannot, however, file for both temporary caregiver benefits and temporary disability benefits for the same reason.

Employees may take such leave when they are unable to perform their regular and customary work because of the qualifying reasons.

Unless leave is unforeseeable, employees are to give 30 days’ written notice of the need for leave.

Employers may require that employees provide a certification supporting the need for leave.

During leave, the employer must maintain health benefits. The employee must continue to pay any of his or her share of the cost.

Employees are entitled to be reinstated to their position or an equivalent one.

Employers are to provide a notice to new employees hired on or after January 1, 2014, and to each employee taking leave on or after January 1, 2014. Employers also need to post and maintain information regarding the program.

When applicable, temporary caregiver leave may run concurrently with the federal FMLA and/or the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act.

Voting

Rhode Island doesn’t have a time-off-for-voting provision.

State

Contact

Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training, Labor Standards Division

Regulations

Statute § 28-14-4 Payment on separation by employer.

www.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE28/28-14/28-14-4.HTM

(a) Whenever an employee separates or is separated from the payroll of an employer, the unpaid wages or compensation of the employee shall become due on the next regular payday and payable at the usual place of payment.

(b) Whenever an employee separates or is separated from the payroll of an employer after completing at least one year of service, any vacation pay accrued or awarded by collective bargaining, written or verbal company policy, or any other written or verbal agreement between employer and employee shall become wages and payable in full or on a prorated basis with all other due wages on the next regular payday for the employee.

(c) Whenever an employer separates an employee from the payroll as a result of the employer liquidating the business, merging the business, disposing the business, or removing the business out of state, all wages become immediately due and payable within twenty-four (24) hours of the time of separation at the usual place of payment. Additionally, if the employee has completed at least one year of service with the employer, holiday pay, vacation pay in full or on a prorated basis, and insurance benefits due the employee under a collective bargaining agreement, company policy, or other agreement between the employer and employee shall be considered as unpaid wages due and payable within twenty-four (24) hours of the time of separation at the usual place of payment.

Federal

Contacts

None.

Regulations

None.

['Leave']

['Time off']

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