Effective January 1, 2015 the Rhode Island minimum wage increases from $8.00 to $9.00 per hour. The 2015 Rhode Island minimum wage for full-time students under 19 years of age is $8.10 per hour. However, it only applies to students working in nonprofit religious, educational, library or community service organizations. Full-time students employed in the business sector are entitled to the full minimum wage of $9.00 per hour.
Employees who are 14 or 15 years old can be paid just $6.75 per hour, as long as they are working 24 hours per week or less. A youth employee working more than 24 hours per week must be paid the full Rhode Island 2015 minimum wage of $9.00 per hour.
As with other states, Rhode Island exempts workers in a host of occupations from the minimum wage law. Domestic service workers employed in a private home are exempt, as are federal employees. Volunteers are exempt from the minimum wage law provided they are working in an educational institution, charity, religious organization or other nonprofit organization.
The Rhode Island minimum wage law specifically excludes situations where an employer/employee relationship does not exist, including newspaper carriers making home deliveries, shoe shine persons, golf caddies, and traveling salespeople or outside salespeople. Maybe because the law has been in effect for decades, it also excludes theater ushers. A number of summer camps or restaurants at seasonal resorts are excluded from the law, as long as they operate no more than 6 or 7 months per year.
A worker who is employed by his or her son or daughter is excluded from the minimum wage law. In addition, a minor (child) employed by his or her parent, is not entitled to any minimum wage under the law.
Most Rhode Island employees are entitled to overtime at 1.5 times the employee’s average rate when they work more than 40 hours in the payroll week. Exceptions apply for certain employees including delivery drivers and salespeople. Rhode Island is one of the few states in the nation that requires retail employees to be paid time-and-a-half on Sunday and Holidays.
