Rhode Island’s legal holidays and premium pay rules require most employers to pay 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for any work performed on one of the state’s 14 recognized holidays or on any Sunday. Federal law imposes no equivalent, so this premium exists solely because the Rhode Island legislature created it.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA Whether the premium applies to you depends on the industry you work in and, in a few cases, the size and operating pattern of your employer.
Which Days Count as Legal Holidays
Section 25-1-1 of the Rhode Island General Laws recognizes the following as legal holidays:
- New Year’s Day (January 1)
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday (third Monday in January)
- Washington’s Birthday (third Monday in February)
- Rhode Island Independence Day (May 4)
- Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
- Juneteenth National Freedom Day (June 19)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Victory Day (second Monday in August)
- Labor Day (first Monday in September)
- Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
- Veterans Day (November 11)
- Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
- Christmas Day (December 25)
- Election Day, only in years with a general election for state officers
- Every Sunday
The statute also treats as a holiday any day the governor, General Assembly, president, or Congress designates as a holiday or day of thanksgiving.2Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-1-1 – General Holidays Enumerated Two of the fixed dates are peculiar to Rhode Island: Victory Day, which is observed nowhere else in the country, and Rhode Island Independence Day. Both carry full legal-holiday status for premium pay purposes.
The 1.5 Times Pay Rule
Under ยง 25-3-3, covered employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their normal hourly rate for every hour worked on a legal holiday or a Sunday.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-3 – Work on Sundays or Holidays A worker earning $20 an hour is entitled to $30 an hour for those shifts. The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training confirms the same 1.5 times figure applies to all covered Sunday and holiday work.4Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. Legal Holidays
One narrow timing rule bends this. Manufacturers that run three shifts or begin their work week on Sunday can start a shift at 11:00 p.m. Sunday and pay the regular weekday rate for the hour between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. Once midnight passes, the weekday rate simply continues.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-3 – Work on Sundays or Holidays That single hour is the only time-of-day exception in the statute.
How It Interacts With Federal Overtime
Rhode Island’s holiday premium is separate from the federal 40-hour overtime rule. The Fair Labor Standards Act treats a true premium paid for holiday or Sunday work as excludable from the regular rate used to calculate overtime.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA If you work 45 hours in a week that includes a holiday, you’re owed the state premium for the holiday hours and federal overtime for the hours past 40. Your employer cannot count the holiday premium already paid against the overtime obligation.
Who Doesn’t Get the Premium
Section 25-3-1 excludes several categories of workers from the definition of “employee,” which means the 1.5 times rate does not reach them at all:
- Farm workers, commercial fishing crews, and boat repair employees
- Physicians, dentists, attorneys, and accountants
- Anyone engaged in providing health care or building maintenance
- Workers at restaurants, hotels, motels, summer camps, resorts, and similar recreation facilities (health club employees are not exempt)
- Offshore petroleum or gas exploration, extraction, or servicing workers
- Employees who qualify as exempt executives, administrators, or professionals under federal law
- Employees of gaming establishments licensed under Chapter 23 of Title 5
- Telephone-based customer service or sales workers, unless a collective bargaining agreement in effect as of July 1998 covers the specific position
If your job falls into one of these categories, both the premium pay and the right-to-refuse protection discussed below are unavailable to you.5Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-1 – Definitions State regulations exempt additional classes of employers based on operations or size,6Rhode Island Code of Regulations. 260 RICR 30-05-2.6 – Premium Pay Exemptions for Work on Holidays and Sundays and the statute itself carves out chauffeur-driven limousine and taxi companies that operate around the clock, along with car rental agencies at T.F. Green Airport that are contractually required to stay open on Sundays and holidays.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-3 – Work on Sundays or Holidays
The Right to Refuse a Sunday or Holiday Shift
The same statute that requires the premium also gives covered workers something uncommon: a legal right to decline the shift. Section 25-3-3 says that refusing to work on a Sunday or legal holiday is not grounds for discharge or any other penalty.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-3 – Work on Sundays or Holidays Your employer cannot fire you, demote you, cut your hours, or otherwise punish you for saying no.
Two categories of manufacturers are outside this protection. Any manufacturer that operates seven continuous days a week can require the shift, and so can a wall-covering manufacturer that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and grew its workforce by at least 10 percent within one year of switching to continuous operations. These employers still owe the 1.5 times rate; only the voluntariness piece is removed.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-3-3 – Work on Sundays or Holidays
When Holidays Fall on a Weekend
If a holiday lands on a Sunday, the following Monday is treated as the holiday for legal purposes.2Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 25-1-1 – General Holidays Enumerated Saturday holidays split by employer. For state employees, the statute shifts a Saturday holiday to the following Monday. Private employers are not required to offer a compensatory day when a holiday falls on Saturday, though many do so as a matter of company policy. Check your handbook if that situation comes up.
If You Weren’t Paid the Premium
Chapter 25-3 contains penalty and remedy provisions, and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training handles wage complaints under it.4Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. Legal Holidays If your employer paid straight time for a holiday or Sunday shift, or retaliated against you for turning one down, you can file a complaint with DLT. Employers who underpay face back-pay liability for the difference between what was paid and what the statute required.