2025 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage is $3.89.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: A Guidebook to Rhode Island's Wage and Workplace Laws (Rev. 12/2024) (Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training)Verified 2026-08-31
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | 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 2025?
- 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 someone who works in an occupation where it is customary to receive gratuities. Gratuities are defined as voluntary monetary compensation received by the employee for services rendered. Wait staff and bus persons are the occupations covered under Rhode Island's gratuity allowance rules. These workers must be paid the stated minimum rates — which means the employer pays at least $3.89 per hour in direct cash wages, and the employee's tips bring the total up to the full minimum wage. If an employee works in a role where receiving tips is not the normal custom of that occupation, the employer cannot claim a tip credit and must pay the full minimum wage. Rhode Island's rule looks at whether the occupation itself is one where customers customarily give gratuities, not at how much any individual employee happens to receive.
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)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
Under Rhode Island law, wait staff employees must be paid a minimum cash wage of at least $3.89 per hour. This is the direct wage that the employer must pay from its own funds before counting any tips. The tips received by the employee must then bring the total hourly compensation up to the full Rhode Island minimum wage (which is $14.00 as of January 1, 2024) for all hours worked. The $3.89 figure represents the minimum cash wage floor — the lowest amount an employer can pay a tipped worker in Rhode Island, regardless of how many tips the employee receives. If an employee's tips combined with the $3.89 cash wage do not reach the full minimum wage for any workweek, the employer is responsible for making up the shortfall. This $3.89 minimum cash wage has been in effect since January 1, 2017.
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)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Under Rhode Island's gratuity allowance rules, the employer may credit a tipped employee's tips toward the minimum wage, but the employer must ensure the employee actually receives at least the full minimum wage for all hours worked. Wait staff must be paid at least $3.89 per hour in direct cash wages, and the tips received must bring the total to $14.00 per hour (as of 2024). If in any workweek the employee's tips plus the $3.89 cash wage do not add up to $14.00, the employer must pay the shortfall out of its own funds. The employer cannot pass this risk to the worker — the minimum wage floor is guaranteed regardless of how generous or sparse customer tipping may be in a given week. This protection applies for all hours worked. Employers must also keep signed employee statements certifying the gratuities received as part of permanent payroll records.
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
Before an employer in Rhode Island can credit a tipped employee's tips toward the minimum wage, the employer must have received and kept a signed statement from the employee certifying the amount of gratuities that were credited for that week. This signed statement must be maintained as part of the employer's permanent payroll records. The state provides a standard form for this purpose that requires the employee to fill in the week's dates, the total hours worked, the employer's name, and the dollar amount of tips received, and then sign it. If the employer cannot produce this documentation, it may not claim the tip credit for that week. Rhode Island law also gives workers who sign gratuity statements the right to request a hearing in the Division of Labor Standards if they dispute the amounts claimed.
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
When both Rhode Island state law and federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act) apply to a tipped employee, the standard that is more protective to the employee takes precedence. Rhode Island's mandated minimum cash contribution to a service employee's wages may from time to time exceed what federal law requires. In those cases, the employer must follow whichever rule gives the worker the higher wage or greater protection. As of 2024, Rhode Island's minimum cash wage for wait staff is $3.89 per hour, and the tip credit structure is set by state law. Employers in Rhode Island must comply with both state and federal requirements, applying whichever provides the better outcome for the worker.
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
Rhode Island's wage and workplace laws define gratuities as voluntary monetary compensation received by the employee for services rendered. The state's gratuity allowance rules allow employers to credit tips toward the minimum wage, but only for employees working in occupations where it is customary to receive gratuities — specifically wait staff and bus persons. The Rhode Island statute does not address whether an employer, manager, or supervisor may keep a share of an employee's tips, nor does it contain specific provisions about tip pooling arrangements. Workers in Rhode Island who believe their tips have been improperly taken or withheld by their employer should consult the state's labor standards provisions and may request a hearing in the Division of Labor Standards if they have signed gratuity statements disputing the amounts claimed.
Gratuities shall mean voluntary monetary compensation received by the employee for services rendered.
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
Rhode Island's gratuity allowance rules do not contain specific provisions about tip pooling. The state statute allows employers to credit tips toward the minimum wage for employees in occupations where it is customary to receive gratuities — wait staff and bus persons — subject to the condition that the tip credit may not exceed half of the applicable minimum wage. Beyond that, Rhode Island law does not specify which employees may be included in a tip pool or what restrictions apply to how tips are shared among workers. Employees in Rhode Island who have questions about tip pooling arrangements should consult with the Division of Labor Standards or seek legal advice, as federal law may also apply depending on the circumstances.
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)
Doing two jobs for one employer
Under Rhode Island law, an employer may take a gratuity allowance for bus persons in the same manner as it does for wait staff. This means that bus persons in Rhode Island are treated the same as servers for purposes of the minimum cash wage and the tip credit. The employer must pay at least $3.89 per hour in direct wages, and the employee's tips must bring total compensation up to the full minimum wage. The same conditions apply: the tip credit cannot exceed half of the applicable minimum wage, and the employer must keep a signed statement from the employee certifying the gratuities received. Workers who sign gratuity statements are entitled to a hearing in the Division of Labor Standards if they dispute the amounts. Rhode Island's statute covers wait staff and bus persons — it does not extend the tip credit to other occupations where an employee might happen to receive tips.
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)
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