2024 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2024 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage is $3.89.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $3.89 | $3.89 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Wait staff and other tipped employees in Rhode Island whose employer counts tips toward the state minimum wage.
What changed this year, and why
Rhode Island's minimum cash wage for wait staff stayed at $3.89 an hour. The state raises its full minimum wage every year, but the cash wage an employer may pay under the tip credit has not moved with it.
Common questions
- What was the tipped minimum wage in Rhode Island in 2024?
- Rhode Island's minimum cash wage for wait staff was $3.89 per hour. The worker's tips had to bring total pay up to the full state minimum wage for all hours worked.
- Does the Rhode Island cash wage for wait staff change each year?
- No. The Department of Labor and Training states one cash wage for wait staff, $3.89 per hour, and it has stayed there while the full state minimum wage it sits under has risen.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Tips needed per hour takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Rhode Island, a tipped employee is called "wait staff" in the state's wage guidebook. These are employees working in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities. The state requires that wait staff be paid at least $3.89 per hour in direct cash wages, and that the tips they receive bring their total earnings to the full minimum wage for all hours worked. Bus persons are also included: gratuity allowance may be taken for them in the same manner as wait staff. Rhode Island does not use the federal definition of a tipped employee based on a monthly tip threshold; instead, it focuses on specific occupations — wait staff and bus persons — where receiving tips is the custom. Employers may credit tips toward the minimum wage only if the employee actually received those tips and the employer has a signed statement from the worker certifying the amount.
An employee working in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities must be paid the stated minimum rates.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Rhode Island, employers can count a portion of a tipped employee's tips toward meeting the minimum wage, with the employer paying a lower cash wage. As of 2024, the minimum cash wage for wait staff is $3.89 per hour, and the tips must bring the total compensation to at least $14.00 per hour. The maximum tip credit an employer can claim is $10.11 per hour, which represents no more than 50% of the applicable minimum wage. This means the employer must pay at least $3.89 directly, and can count up to $10.11 in tips toward the $14.00 minimum wage. If the employee's tips plus the cash wage do not reach the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Rhode Island's rule is more protective than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, so the state standard applies to workers in Rhode Island.
The amount of gratuities credited may not exceed 50% of the applicable minimum wage. From time to time the mandated employer’s minimum contribution toward service employee’s wages may exceed the amount required by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Where there is coverage under both state and federal law the higher or more restrictive standard takes precedence. Minimum Wage Minimum Share Maximum Tip credit 1/1/19 $10.50 $3.89 $6.61 1/1/20 $11.50 $3.89 $7.61 1/1/22 $12.25 $3.89 $8.36 1/1/23 $13.00 $3.89 $9.11 1/1/24 $14.00 $3.89 $10.11
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
If a tipped employee in Rhode Island does not earn enough in tips to bring their $3.89 per hour cash wage up to the full $14.00 minimum wage, the employer is responsible for making up the difference. The state guidebook explains that wait staff must be paid at least $3.89 per hour and that the tips received must bring the total to $14.00 per hour for all hours worked as of January 1, 2024. So if an employee’s cash wage plus tips in a given pay period fall short of $14.00 an hour, the employer must add the shortfall to the worker’s paycheck. This rule protects tipped workers from earning less than the state minimum wage simply because business was slow or tips were light on a particular shift.
Commencing January 1, 2017, wait staff must be paid at least $3.89 per hour and the number of tips received must bring this amount to $14.00 as of January 1, 2024, for all hours worked.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
Rhode Island requires employers to maintain written documentation before claiming a tip credit. The employer must have received and kept as part of permanent payroll records a statement signed by the employee certifying that the amount of gratuities credited has actually been received. The Director of Labor and Training accepts a specific form as substantial evidence that the gratuities claimed by the employer were received by the employee. The worker must fill in the amount of tips and sign the form, which must include the week covered, the amount received in gratuities, the number of hours worked, and the employer's name. This written notice requirement ensures that employers can only claim a tip credit when they have documented proof that the employee actually received the tips being credited. Without this signed certification, the employer cannot legally take the tip credit.
The employer must have received and kept as part of permanent payroll records for that week a statement signed by the employee certifying the amount of gratuities, as credited, has been received.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
Rhode Island's minimum wage for tipped workers can provide stronger protections than federal law. The state sets a minimum cash wage of $3.89 per hour and limits the tip credit so that employers must contribute a meaningful share of the wage directly. Rhode Island law specifically states that when there is coverage under both state and federal law, the higher or more restrictive standard takes precedence. This means Rhode Island employers must follow whichever rule—state or federal—gives the worker the larger paycheck. In practice, Rhode Island's minimum wage for service employees has grown above what federal law requires, so the state's rules apply to workers here rather than the lower federal standards. The mandated employer's minimum contribution toward a service employee's wages has exceeded the federal requirement, and the state's stricter standard governs.
From time to time the mandated employer’s minimum contribution toward service employee’s wages may exceed the amount required by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Where there is coverage under both state and federal law the higher or more restrictive standard takes precedence.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips. The 2024 federal rule makes clear that tips are the property of the employee who receives them, and that an employer — including any manager or supervisor — may not keep any share of those tips for itself. Rhode Island’s own gratuity rules say that gratuities are voluntary monetary compensation received by the employee for services rendered, and that the employer may only credit them toward the minimum wage within the limits the state sets. The federal ban on employers keeping tips applies in Rhode Island as well, and it applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. So a Rhode Island restaurant owner, manager, or supervisor may not skim a cut of a server’s tips, and any tip pool must be limited to employees who customarily receive tips.
Gratuities shall mean voluntary monetary compensation received by the employee for services rendered. An employee working in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities must be paid the stated minimum rates.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
The source document provided does not contain any rule about tip pooling. The Rhode Island DOL guidebook covers the cash wage, the maximum tip credit, and record-keeping for gratuities, but it does not address whether or how employers may require tipped workers to share tips with other employees. This topic should be filled in when the underlying rule is available in a source document.
Effective 7/1/99, gratuity allowance may be taken for bus persons in the same manner as wait staff.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Rhode Island, the gratuities allowance applies only to employees working in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities. The state specifically recognizes wait staff and bus persons as such occupations. If an employee performs work in both a tipped occupation and a non-tipped occupation for the same employer, the employer may take the gratuity allowance only for hours worked in the tipped occupation. For hours worked in the non-tipped occupation, the employer must pay the full minimum wage without any tip credit. The minimum cash wage for wait staff is $3.89 per hour, and the combination of that wage and tips must reach the full minimum wage for all hours worked in the tipped role. The employer must keep a signed statement from the employee certifying the amount of gratuities received for those tipped hours.
An employee working in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities must be paid the stated minimum rates. However, in any week when the wages for such an employee are computed, the employer may credit tips so received as part of the wages under the following conditions:
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)
- Minimum cash wage
Commencing January 1, 2017, wait staff must be paid at least $3.89 per hour and the number of tips received must bring this amount to $14.00 as of January 1, 2024, for all hours worked.
Other years
Every Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state