Rhode Island: Paid Sick Leave Requirements
The short answer
Rhode Island's Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act requires most employers to let employees earn sick and safe leave at one hour per 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. At an employer with 18 or more employees the leave is paid; at a smaller employer the same 40 hours must be allowed but may be unpaid. Employees may use it for their own or a family member's illness or preventive care, a public-health closure, or matters related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Unused leave carries over, though annual use stays capped at 40 hours, and no payout is owed at separation.
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This is the general rule in Rhode Island. Ezel applies current Rhode Island law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and local interaction | Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act, R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 28-57 (effective July 1, 2018); a statewide sick-and-safe-leave mandate. Local law is preempted upward: § 28-57-8 bars any municipality from requiring benefits in excess of the chapter, so a city cannot add stronger sick-leave rules. Employers may voluntarily provide more, and stronger contracts or collective bargaining agreements are preserved (§ 28-57-12). |
|---|---|
| Employer and employee coverage | Paid leave is required of employers with 18 or more Rhode Island employees; an employer with fewer than 18 must allow the same 40 hours but it may be unpaid (§§ 28-57-4(c), 28-57-5(a)). All of a group's employees are counted (29 C.F.R. § 791.2). 'Employee' excludes independent contractors, subcontractors, work-study participants, and other FLSA-excluded individuals; the federal, state, and municipal governments are outside the paid duty (§§ 28-57-3(7), 28-57-4(d)). Qualifying per-diem nurses and, until July 1, 2018, construction CBA employees are exempt (§ 28-57-4(e),(f)). |
| Accrual and annual entitlement | Accrue at least one hour per 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year (24 in 2018, 32 in 2019, 40 thereafter), unless the employer sets a higher limit. Overtime-exempt employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week, or their shorter normal week. Accrual starts at hire; the employer may impose a use waiting period of up to 90 days (180 days for temporary, 150 days for seasonal employees) (§ 28-57-5(a)-(d),(j),(k)). |
| Frontloading, caps, and carryover | The employer may frontload the full annual amount at the start of the year and skip accrual tracking, carryover, and payout (§ 28-57-4(b)). Otherwise accrued leave carries over to the next year, but annual USE stays capped at 40 hours. In lieu of carryover, the employer may pay out unused leave at year-end and also provide the full new-year amount for immediate use (§ 28-57-5(e)). Alternative lump-sum schedules keyed to average weekly hours are also allowed (§ 28-57-14). |
| Qualifying uses and family | The employee's or a family member's mental or physical illness, injury, health condition, diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; a public-official closure of the workplace or a child's school or care for a public-health emergency, or exposure-based isolation; and time related to the employee's or a family member's domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (§ 28-57-6(a)). 'Family member' is broad: child, parent, spouse, mother- or father-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partner, sibling, a care recipient, or a member of the employee's household (§ 28-57-3(9)). |
| Requests, notice, documentation, and increments | A request may be oral, written, electronic, or by any means the employer accepts. Foreseeable leave requires advance notice and reasonable scheduling; for unforeseeable leave the employer must have a written notice policy or may not deny leave for noncompliance. The employer may set a minimum increment up to four hours per day if reasonable. Documentation may be required only for absences of more than three consecutive workdays (or in the two weeks before termination); it may not reveal the nature of the illness or the details of the abuse, and a healthcare professional's note or one of four victim-documentation options suffices (§ 28-57-6(b)-(g)). |
| Pay, payout, reinstatement, and records | Paid leave is compensated at the employee's same hourly rate and benefits, and never below the state minimum wage (§ 28-57-3(11)). No financial reimbursement for unused leave is required at termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation (§ 28-57-5(f)). Rehire within 135 days restores previously accrued unused leave, and a successor employer must honor accrued leave (§ 28-57-5(g),(h)). No replacement-worker may be required (§ 28-57-6(k)); recordkeeping follows the chapter 12 enforcement framework. |
| Posting, retaliation, enforcement, and remedies | Notice and enforcement follow the Minimum Wage Act (ch. 12) and the Payment of Wages Act (ch. 14): the Department of Labor and Training publishes a required Notice to Employees poster, and an aggrieved employee gets the same protections and relief as under chapters 12 and 14. A violating employer is liable for a civil penalty of at least $100 for a first violation, with later violations under chapter 12 penalties (§ 28-57-10). Health and domestic-violence information must be kept confidential (§ 28-57-11). An employer may still discipline demonstrated fraud or a clear misuse pattern (§ 28-57-6(i),(j)). |
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Requirements one by one
One accrual rate, one 40-hour ceiling, one paid/unpaid split
Employees earn at least one hour of sick and safe leave for every 35 hours
worked, capped at 40 hours a year. The paid/unpaid line is drawn by headcount:
at an employer with 18 or more Rhode Island employees the leave is paid; at a
smaller employer the same 40 hours must be allowed but may be unpaid, and the
small employer still may not punish an employee for using it. Overtime-exempt
employees are assumed to work 40 hours a week unless their normal week is
shorter.
Accrual starts when employment begins, but the employer may make a new employee
wait up to 90 days before using leave — 180 days for a temporary employee and
150 days for a seasonal employee.
Frontload to skip the bookkeeping, or accrue and carry over
An employer that gives the full 40 hours up front at the start of each benefit
year does not have to track accrual, allow carryover, or pay anything out. An
employer that instead lets leave accrue must carry unused hours into the next
year, though annual use stays capped at 40 hours. As a third option, the
employer may cash out unused hours at year-end and still hand the employee a
fresh full-year amount for immediate use. Section 28-57-14 also lists lump-sum
schedules keyed to an employee's average weekly hours.
Match the use to a covered reason and the broad family list
Leave covers the employee's own health needs, a family member's health needs,
a public-official closure of the workplace or a child's school for a public-
health emergency (and exposure-based isolation), and time to deal with domestic
violence, sexual assault, or stalking affecting the employee or a family member.
The family definition reaches beyond the household: children, parents, spouses,
in-laws, grandparents, grandchildren, a domestic partner, siblings, a care
recipient, or any member of the employee's household.
Keep the request and proof rules light
A request may be oral, written, or electronic. For a foreseeable need the
employee gives advance notice and schedules reasonably; for an unforeseeable
need, an employer that lacks a written notice policy may not deny the leave. The
employer may set a minimum increment up to four hours a day. Documentation may
be demanded only after more than three consecutive sick days (or in the two
weeks before a termination), may not reveal the nature of the illness or the
details of the abuse, and is satisfied by a healthcare professional's note or,
for a safety absence, any one of four listed victim-documentation options.
Pay it right, and know what is not owed
Paid leave is compensated at the employee's usual hourly rate and benefits and
never below the state minimum wage. Nothing requires a payout of unused leave at
separation. But if the employee is rehired within 135 days, previously accrued
unused leave is restored, and a successor employer must honor accrued leave.
What trips people up
Rhode Island cities cannot go higher. Unlike states that let localities add
protections, § 28-57-8 forbids any municipality from requiring benefits above
the state floor. The statewide rule is the ceiling for local government, though
an individual employer or union contract may still provide more.
Carryover does not raise the annual use cap. Unused hours roll into the next
year, but an employee still cannot use more than 40 hours in a year unless the
employer allows more.
No separation payout — with two exceptions that look like one. The employer
need not cash out unused leave when a job ends. Yet a rehire within 135 days
restores the old balance, and a business that takes over must carry it forward,
so the hours are not always gone for good.
A generous PTO plan can satisfy the law. An employer that makes at least 40
hours of PTO or paid leave available for these purposes at the start of the year
is exempt from the accrual, carryover, and payout mechanics, provided the policy
makes clear no additional time will be added.
Common questions
Does a small Rhode Island employer have to pay for sick leave?
An employer with fewer than 18 employees must let workers earn and use up to 40
hours of sick and safe leave, but that leave may be unpaid. The employer still
cannot retaliate against an employee for using it.
Can my employer make me find someone to cover my shift?
No. The employer may not require you to find a replacement worker as a condition
of using earned sick and safe leave.
Can I be asked for a doctor's note every time?
No. Documentation may be required only for an absence of more than three
consecutive workdays, or for leave in the two weeks before you leave the job, and
it cannot be forced to reveal the nature of your illness.
Do I get paid for unused sick leave when I quit?
Not automatically. The law does not require a payout at separation, but if you
are rehired within 135 days your unused balance is reinstated.
Statutes and sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-5. Accrual rate, annual cap, waiting periods,
carryover or year-end cash-out, no-payout rule, and 135-day reinstatement.
Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026). - R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-4. Frontload exemption, the 18-employee paid
threshold, and the government-employer carve-outs. Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026). - R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-6. Qualifying uses, request and notice rules,
minimum increment, documentation limits, and the no-replacement-worker rule.
Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026). - R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-3. Definitions of "family member" and "paid sick
leave time." Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026). - R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-8. Uniformity: municipalities may not require
benefits above the state floor. Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026). - R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-10. Enforcement through chapters 12 and 14 and the
minimum $100 first-violation penalty. Rhode Island General
Assembly
(accessed July 23, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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