When your final paycheck is due in Rhode Island
In Rhode Island, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due on the next regular payday; within 24 hours if the business is liquidating, merging, being sold or moving out of state. If you quit, it is due on the next regular payday.
- Fired or laid off
- Next regular payday; within 24 hours if the business is liquidating, merging, being sold or moving out of state
- If you quit
- Next regular payday
- Unused vacation
- After at least 1 year of service, accrued vacation must be paid with the final wages on the next regular payday.
The law
R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-14-4. Read the statute.
Checked against the statute in October 2026. Laws change, so confirm the current rule before you rely on it.
What to do next
If the deadline has passed, ask for the wages in writing first and keep a copy. The free first letter in the Wage Claim Letters kit does this. If that doesn’t work, small claims court is the usual next step. The final paycheck lookup compares states side by side.
Other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
General information about Rhode Island law, not legal advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Wage Claim Letters is a self-help template kit from Kits For That.