2026 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage is $3.89.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2025
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2025.
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $3.89 | $3.89 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Rhode Island. The cash wage is the part of the minimum wage the employer pays directly. The rest may be met by the employee's tips, up to the maximum tip credit the same row of the table states, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $3.89 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Rhode Island. The table carries only its own revision date and never dates the rate, so this page reports the figure as in force as of that revision rather than claiming an effective date no document states.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Rhode Island in 2026?
- $3.89 per hour in cash wages. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in Rhode Island. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays the difference. A tip credit is a credit against the minimum wage the employer already owes, not a lower wage in its own right, so an employee whose cash wage and tips together fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
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 they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold determines whether the federal and state tip-credit rules apply to a worker at all. If a Rhode Island employee does not meet this definition—because their tips are sporadic, small, or their job is not tip-oriented—the employer cannot use the tip credit and must pay the full minimum wage for every hour worked. Only the tips the employee actually receives count toward this determination; tips that never reach the worker's hands are irrelevant. Workers in restaurants, hotels, and similar service roles typically qualify, but the $30-a-month floor means that someone who gets tips only occasionally or in token amounts may still be entitled to the regular minimum wage from their employer.
Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Rhode Island, the tip credit is the mechanism that lets an employer count a portion of the tips a worker receives toward the employer's minimum-wage obligation. The employer pays a direct cash wage to the tipped worker, and the tip credit makes up the gap between that cash wage and the applicable minimum wage. Rhode Island's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $3.89 per hour. The tip credit itself equals the difference between the cash wage the employer pays and the minimum wage the employer is required to meet. Only tips the employee actually receives count when determining whether the employee qualifies as a tipped employee and when applying the credit. The employer cannot claim a tip credit larger than the tips the employee actually brings in during the pay period.
An employer can take an FLSA tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage, or the cash wage it pays directly to the tipped employee, and the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Rhode Island, when a tipped employee's tips plus the employer's cash wage do not add up to the minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This is a per-workweek guarantee: the employer must look at each individual workweek and confirm that the employee received at least the full minimum wage from the combination of direct wages and tips. If tips were low in a particular week—due to slow business, bad weather, or any other reason—the employer cannot average the shortfall against busier weeks and must pay the additional amount right away. The Rhode Island tipped worker is entitled to this safety net regardless of how much the employer expected them to earn in tips. The cash wage the employer pays directly must still meet the state's minimum of $3.89 per hour, but the employer's obligation does not end there if tips fall short.
If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Rhode Island, before an employer can take a tip credit against a tipped worker's wages, the employer must give the employee specific information in advance. The notice must cover five items: the amount of the cash wage the employer is paying (which in Rhode Island is $3.89 per hour); the additional amount claimed as a tip credit; the fact that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips the employee actually receives; the rule that all tips belong to the employee except for a valid tip pool limited to workers who customarily and regularly receive tips; and the requirement that the credit will not apply unless the employee has been told of all these provisions. The employer may deliver this notice orally or in writing, but if the employer fails to provide all five items before taking the credit, it cannot use the tip credit at all. Rhode Island workers who have not received this full notice are entitled to the full minimum wage from their employer without any offset for tips.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Rhode Island, when state law and the federal FLSA set different rules for tipped employees, the employer must follow whichever standard gives the worker the greater protection. This means that if Rhode Island requires a higher cash wage than the federal floor, or if Rhode Island provides broader tip-pooling protections, the employer must apply the Rhode Island rule. For example, Rhode Island's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $3.89 per hour. If the federal cash wage were lower, the employer in Rhode Island would still have to pay at least $3.89. Likewise, if Rhode Island prohibited the tip credit entirely while the federal law allowed it, the employer would have to pay the full minimum wage without any tip offset. The principle is straightforward: the worker always receives the benefit of whichever law—state or federal—is more favorable to them.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Rhode Island, the law prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit against the minimum wage. An employer may not require a tipped worker to hand over their tips to the business, a manager, or a supervisor. Managers and supervisors are barred from receiving tips collected from employees, even if the employer pays the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit at all. The principle is that tips belong to the employee who earned them from the customer, and no one up the chain of command may skim or redirect those funds. Rhode Island workers should know that even if their employer pays well above the minimum wage, the employer still has no right to take any share of the tips those workers receive.
Regardless of whether an employer takes a tip credit, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Rhode Island, when an employer takes a tip credit, it can require tipped employees to contribute to a tip pool, but the pool is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is sometimes called a "traditional" tip pool. Eligible participants typically include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. The employer must notify tipped employees of the required contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for the tips each employee ultimately retains after the pool is distributed, and may not retain any of the pooled tips itself. Workers in Rhode Island who are not in traditionally tipped occupations—such as cooks, dishwashers, or maintenance staff—cannot be forced to participate in a traditional tip pool when the employer is using the tip credit. The rule ensures that tip pooling serves the workers who depend on tips as a regular part of their compensation.
An employer that takes a tip credit can require tipped employees to contribute tips only to a tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Rhode Island, when a worker holds two distinct jobs for the same employer—for example, a hotel maintenance person who also works as a server—that employee is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. The employer can take a tip credit only for the hours the worker spends in the tipped role, provided the worker customarily and regularly receives at least $30 a month in tips from that work. For the hours the worker spends in the non-tipped role, such as maintenance, no tip credit is allowed and the employer must pay the full minimum wage. Rhode Island workers who split their time between a tipped position and a non-tipped position for the same employer should track their hours carefully, because the lower cash wage applies only to the tipped-occupation hours. The two jobs are treated as separate employments even though the paycheck comes from the same employer.
In such a situation the employee, if they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their work as a server, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
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.
Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Rhode Island $16.00 $12.11 $3.89 More than $30
Other years
Every Rhode Island Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state