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Takeaways
- Rhode Island's amended Payment of Wages law requires employers to provide written notice to each employee at the start of employment.
- The notice must include the employee's pay, allowances, deductions, pay schedule, and employment status, as well as the employer's name, address, and contact information.
- Employers should update their onboarding processes to ensure compliance with this newly enacted law.
Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Rhode Island employers must provide all newly hired employees with a written notice containing key employment terms under amendments to the state's Payment of Wages law (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-14-12), enacted through S 0070 SubAaa/H 5679 SubAaa.
The new hire notice requirement covers all employers, regardless of size, and a written notice must be provided to each employee at the start of employment.
Key Requirements
The written notice, which must be in English and tailored to the individual employee, must include the following information:
- Rate(s) of pay and basis – The rate or rates of
pay and basis thereof, including whether the employee will be paid
by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other
method, and the specific application of any additional rates.
- Allowances – Allowances, if any, claimed,
pursuant to permitted meals and lodging.
- Leave policies – The employer's policies on
sick leave, vacation, personal leave, holidays, and work
hours.
- Employment status – The employee's
employment status and whether the employee is exempt from minimum
wage or overtime.
- Deductions – A list of deductions that may be
made from the employee's pay.
- Pay schedule – The number of days in the pay
period, the regularly scheduled payday, and the payday on which the
employee will receive their first paycheck.
- Employer identity – The legal name of the
employer and the operating name of the employer, if different from
its legal name.
- Employer address – The physical address of the
employer's main office or principal place of business and its
mailing address, if different.
- Employer contact – The employer's telephone number.
Employers must retain a signed copy of the notice from each employee acknowledging receipt.
The statute specifically indicates the information must be provided in a single notice, not pieced together from multiple documents, such as offer letters, handbooks, and paystubs.
This single-notice requirement is consistent with similar laws in other jurisdictions, such as New York Labor Law Section 195. The state of Oregon has recently enacted a similar law, Senate Bill 906, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Enforcement, Penalties
Noncompliance carries a fine, with escalating penalties for subsequent offenses. Each affected employee may constitute a separate violation.
Employer Action Items
To prepare, employers should:
- Develop a compliant, standalone wage notice form.
- Integrate the notice into onboarding procedures.
- Train HR and payroll staff on the new requirements.
- Monitor for any additional guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.
This new requirement underscores Rhode Island's growing emphasis on transparency and employee rights at the point of hire. Employers with operations in the state should act promptly to ensure compliance.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
