Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 28-12 - Minimum Wages
Section 28-12-4.3. - Exemptions.

§ 28-12-4.3. Exemptions.
(a) The provisions of §§ 28-12-4.1 and 28-12-4.2 do not apply to the following employees:
(1) Any employee of a summer camp when it is open no more than six (6) months of the year;
(2) Police officer;
(3) Employees of the state or political subdivision of the state who may elect through a collective bargaining agreement, memorandum of understanding, or any other agreement between the employer and representatives of the employees, or if the employees are not represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, through an agreement or understanding arrived at between the employer and the employee prior to the performance of work, to receive compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of forty (40) in a week. The compensatory hours shall at least equal one and one-half (1½) times the hours worked over forty (40) in a week. If compensation is paid to an employee for accrued compensatory time, the compensation shall be paid at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time of payment. At the time of termination, unused accrued compensatory time shall be paid at a rate not less than:
(i) The average regular rate received by the employee during the last three (3) years of the employee’s employment; or
(ii) The final regular rate received by the employee, whichever is higher;
(4) Any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., compensated for services on a salary basis of not less than two hundred dollars ($200) per week;
(5) Any employee as defined in subsection (a)(4) of this section unless the wages of the employee, if computed on an hourly basis, would violate the applicable minimum wage law;
(6) Any salaried employee of a nonprofit national voluntary health agency who elects to receive compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week;
(7) Any employee, including drivers, driver’s helpers, mechanics, and loaders of any motor carrier, including private carriers, with respect to whom the United States Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. § 31502;
(8) Any employee who is a salesperson, parts person, or mechanic primarily engaged in the sale and/or servicing of automobiles, trucks, or farm implements, and is employed by a non-manufacturing employer primarily engaged in the business of selling vehicles or farm implements to ultimate purchasers, to the extent that the employers are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(10); provided, that the employee’s weekly, biweekly, or monthly actual earnings exceed an amount equal to the employee’s basic contractual hourly rate of pay times the number of hours actually worked plus the employee’s basic contractual hourly rate of pay times one-half (½) the number of hours actually worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week;
(9) Any employee employed in agriculture; however, this exemption applies to all agricultural enterprises that produce greenhouse crops, fruit and vegetable crops, herbaceous crops, sod crops, viticulture, viniculture, floriculture, feed for livestock, forestry, dairy farming, aquaculture, the raising of livestock, furbearing animals, poultry and eggs, bees and honey, mushrooms, and nursery stock. This exemption also applies to nursery workers; and
(10) Any employee of an air carrier subject to the provisions of 45 U.S.C. § 181 et seq., of the Railway Labor Act when the hours worked by that employee in excess of forty (40) in a workweek are not required by the air carrier, but are arranged through a voluntary agreement among employees to trade scheduled work hours.
(b) Nothing in this section exempts any employee who under applicable federal law is entitled to overtime pay or benefits related to overtime pay.
History of Section.P.L. 1974, ch. 152, § 4; P.L. 1978, ch. 403, § 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 22, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 276, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 514, § 1; P.L. 1989, ch. 65, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 155, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 281, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 148, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 184, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 17, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 18, § 1; P.L. 2022, ch. 234, art. 1, § 10, effective December 31, 2022.