US state regulation
Rhode Island
Every state-level regulation PlainRegWatch tracks for Rhode Island - across data privacy, AI, food chemical bans, right to repair and worker protection, with status, effective dates and official sources.
- 48/100
- Strictness score
- 3
- Regulations tracked
- 3
- Enacted into law
- 2/5
- Categories regulated
The verdict
Rhode Island is a moderate regulator - 3 enacted regulations across 2 of 5 tracked policy areas, scoring 48/100 for regulatory strictness, led by Employment & Worker Protection.
- 48/100
- strictness score (vs peers)
- 3
- regulations enacted
- 2/5
- policy areas regulated
- Employment & Worker Protection
- most-active policy area
Strictness is a 0–100 composite of regulatory breadth and the enacted share; see methodology for how it is derived.
Regulatory Snapshot: Rhode Island
Rhode Island currently tracks 3 regulations in the PlainRegWatch database, of which 3 are enacted and 0 remain pending before the state legislature. The state's composite strictness score sits at 48/100, classifying Rhode Island as a moderate regulator compared to its peers. Regulatory activity spans 2 of 5 policy categories covered by PlainRegWatch, with Employment & Worker Protection representing the most active area (2 enacted rules).
The earliest tracked Rhode Island enactment dates to 2017, with the most recent documented enactment in 2024 - a window of 7 years of legislative activity. Across the 50-state fleet, Rhode Island contributes to a national total that PlainRegWatch maintains across categories such as AI Regulation, Data Privacy, Employment & Worker Protection, Food Chemical Bans and more, each with distinct compliance obligations.
Compliance teams monitoring Rhode Island should treat the 3-enacted / 0-pending split as a leading indicator: pending bills in this state often signal the shape of future regulation in neighboring jurisdictions with similar strictness scores. For the authoritative statutory text of any Rhode Island regulation listed below, follow the source link on its detail page, PlainRegWatch links every entry to the official state legislative record.
💼 Employment & Worker Protection
Rhode Island Minimum Wage
R.I. Gen. Laws 28-12-3 Effective: 2025-01-01Rhode Island minimum wage $15.00/hr (2025). Tipped workers: $3.89/hr.
Rhode Island TDI/TCI + Healthy and Safe Families Act
RIGL 28-41 / 28-57 Effective: 2018-07-01Rhode Island TCI: 6 weeks paid family leave at 60% wages. Temporary Disability Insurance covers own illness. Sick: 40 hrs/year.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Regulations by category in Rhode Island
What this means for Rhode Island
Rhode Island's regulatory activity is concentrated in employment & worker protection - the area to watch for compliance.
- Employment & Worker Protection is Rhode Island's most-regulated area (2 enacted rules). Compare states
- Rhode Island regulates across 2 of 5 tracked policy areas, with 0 bills still pending.
- See how Rhode Island ranks against other states on regulatory strictness and volume. View rankings
Figures reflect regulations currently tracked from official Rhode Island legislative records; coverage expands as new laws are enacted.
Source: State regulatory filings (IAPP / MultiState aggregation) Rhode Island state-rule registry · 2024 State regulatory data aggregated from official state filings; status (enacted/pending/proposed) reflects latest legislative tracker snapshot.
Every figure on PlainRegWatch is rendered directly from state source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal and state source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.