FAQs
Child Labor - Employment of Minors
Under 14: No child under 14 years of age may be employed at any time in any capacity except in a private home or on a farm. (General Law 28-3)
Minors 14 and 15 years of age: Part-time and vacation employment in business and mercantile establishments is allowed only by permit from the local school department for minors 14 and 15 years of age. Such employment shall not take place during the hours when school is in session and shall not exceed eight (8) hours in any one day or forty (40) hours in any one week, and shall not take place before 6 A.M. nor after 7 P.M. (9 P.M. during school vacation). Federal law prohibits employment in excess of three (3) hours per day-on school days, or in excess of eighteen (18) hours per week-when school is in session. This more stringent standard must be adhered to whenever the establishment is covered by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Minors under 16 are not permitted to work in factories, manufacturing, mechanical or processing establishments in any capacity at any time. (General Law 28-3-1, 28-3-11)
Any minor between the ages of 16 and 18 may be employed during school vacations without limitations as to the total hours to be worked in a given week or calendar day, provided the provisions of all other applicable federal and state laws and regulations are complied with.
Minors 16 and 17 years of age: Under a 1980 amendment 16 and 17-year-old workers who have left school are no longer restricted by a curfew. However 16 and 17-year-old students are not permitted to work between the hours of 11:30 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. the following day if that day is a school day. When no classes are scheduled, the curfew is extended to 1:30 A.M.
No minor, 16 or 17 years of age, shall work more than 48 hours in any one week, nor more than nine (9) hours in any one day, unless the 48 hours are worked in five (5) days. In which case the minor may work 9 3/5 hours per day.
There shall be an interval (or period of cessation of work) of not less than eight (8) hours between the ending of the period of work on one calendar day and the beginning of a period of work on the subsequent day. (General Law 28-3-11)
In addition to the state regulations for minors 16 and 17 years of age, Federal Wage and Hour Laws prohibit minors under 18 years of age from working in any hazardous occupations. Further information on Federal regulations is available from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, 380 Westminster Mall, Providence, RI 02903. (Telephone: (401) 528-4431)
To review the Federal Depatment of Labor Youth Rules! go to: http://www.youthrules.dol.gov/teens/default.htm
RI Legal Holidays
“Holidays” shall mean Sunday; New Year’s Day, January 1; Memorial Day, last Monday in May; Independence Day, July 4; Victory Day, second Monday in August; Labor Day, first Monday in September; Columbus Day, second Monday in October; Veterans Day, November11; Thanksgiving Day (by proclamation of the Governor), fourth Thursday in November; and Christmas Day, December 25. Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday, the day following is the celebrated holiday.
Parental and Family Medical Leave Laws
The Rhode Island law is a parental and family leave statute that applies to all employers that employ fifty (50) or more employees. It states that every employee who has worked for his/her employer for at least twelve (12) months must be given up to thirteen (13) consecutive weeks of parental or family leave in any two (2) calendar years. The statute requires employees to give advance notice of up to thirty (30) days of the intended starting and ending dates, unless prevented from doing so by a medical emergency.
Under this law, an employee may take parental or family leave for one of three reasons: The birth of the employee’s child; the adoption of a child 16 years of age or less by the employee; or serious illness of a family member or the employee him or herself. Upon expiration of the leave, the employee must either be restored to the position he or she previously held when the leave commenced, or to a position with like seniority, status, benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment; including fringe benefits and service credits that the employee had been entitled to at the commencement of the leave. The health insurance provisions in the law provide that an employer is obligated to continue the employee’s health insurance benefits, but that the employee can be required to pay the premiums prior to his/her departure. If the employee returns, the employer is obligated to return the amounts paid within ten (10) days after the employee’s return to employment.
An employee who has been employed by the same employer for twelve (12) consecutive months shall be entitled to a total of ten (10) hours of leave during any twelve (12) month period to attend school conferences or other school-related activities for a child of whom the employee is the parent, foster parent or guardian. The employee must provide a twenty-four (24) hour prior notice of the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as to not unduly disrupt the operation of the employer.
RI Minimum Wage
As of 3/1/06, the minimum wage for all workers 16 years of age and older is $7.10 per hour. It will increase to $7.40 per hour as of 1/1/07.
Exceptions:
1.) Full-time students under 19 years of age working in nonprofit religious, educational, librarial, or community service organizations:
3/1/06 - $6.39 per hour (90% of applicable minimum)
1/1/07 - $6.66 per hour (90% of applicable minimum)
2.) 14 and 15 year olds who do not work more than 24 hours in a week. (For any week in which a 14 or 15 year old works more than 24 hours the higher applicable minimum rate must be paid for all hours worked in that week.)
3/1/06 - $5.325 per hour (75% of applicable minimum)
1/1/07 - $5.55 per hour (75% of applicable minimum)
3.) Workers employed in: domestic service in or about a private home, Federal service, voluntary service in educational, charitable, religious or nonprofit organizations where employer/employee relationships do not exist, newspaper carriers on home delivery, shoe shine persons, caddies on golf courses, ushers in theaters, traveling or outside sales occupations.
RI Taxable Groceries NEW LIST AS OF JANUARY 1, 2007
Click on http://www.tax.ri.gov/help/grocery.php for the complete list of all foods that are taxable in Rhode Island.
RI Unit Pricing Law
http://www.dbr.ri.gov/divisions/commlicensing/unit.php
Rhode Island Local Meals and Beverage Tax
All “eating and/or drinking establishments” are required to charge and collect a one percent (1%) local tax on the sale of “meals” and/or “beverages” within this state, effective August 1, 2003.
The tax applies whether or not the meals and/or beverages are prepared in the eating and/or drinking establishment and whether or not consumed on the premises. The rate of one percent (1%) must be shown separately on the bill of sale. However, in specific transactions where no receipt is provided by the retailer, i.e., vending machine sales, liquor sales sold at a bar, etc., the local tax as well as the state sales tax is considered included in the total sales price of the meal and/or beverage sold.
The local meals and beverage tax is administered and collected by the Division of Taxation and unless provided herein, all of the administration, collection, exemptions and other provisions of the state sales tax law (chapters 18 and 19, Title 44) apply. All local taxes received by the Division of Taxation will be distributed to the city or town where the meals and/or beverages are delivered. Accordingly, each eating and/or drinking establishment must report the local tax or its monthly or quarterly sales tax returns by city or town where the meals and/or beverages are delivered. The 1-% does not apply if the meal and/or beverage is delivered outside of this state.
Rhode Island Food Bank http://www.rifoodbank.org/