Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 28-42 - Employment Security — General Provisions
Section 28-42-8. - Exemptions from “employment.”

§ 28-42-8. Exemptions from “employment.”
“Employment” does not include:
(1) Domestic service in a private home performed for a person who did not pay cash remuneration of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more in any calendar quarter after December 31, 1977, in the current calendar year, or the preceding calendar year to individuals employed in that domestic service in a private home;
(2) Service performed by an individual in the employ of a sole proprietorship or limited-liability company single member filing as a sole proprietorship with the Internal Revenue Service for his or her son, daughter, or spouse, and service performed by a child under the age of eighteen (18) in the employ of his or her father or mother who is designated as a sole proprietorship or limited-liability company single-member filing as a sole proprietorship with the Internal Revenue Service, and service is performed by an individual under the age of eighteen (18) in the employ of a partnership or limited-liability company partnership consisting only of his or her parents or domestic partners;
(3) Service performed in the employ of any other state, or any of its political subdivisions, the United States government, an instrumentality of any other state or states or their political subdivisions, or of an instrumentality of the United States, except, that if the Congress of the United States permits states to require any instrumentalities of the United States to make payments into an unemployment fund under a state unemployment compensation act, then, to the extent permitted by Congress, and from and after the date as of which permission becomes effective, all of the provisions of chapters 42 — 44 of this title shall be applicable to those instrumentalities and to services performed for those instrumentalities, in the same manner, to the same extent, and on the same terms, as to all other employers, employing units, individuals, and services. If this state is not certified by the Secretary of Labor under 26 U.S.C. § 3304 for any year, then the payments required of those instrumentalities with respect to that year shall be deemed to have been erroneously collected within the meaning of § 28-43-12 and shall be refunded by the director from the fund in accordance with § 28-43-12;
(4) Service performed:
(i) In the employ of:
(A) A church or convention or association of churches; or
(B) An organization that is operated primarily for religious purposes and that is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church, or convention or association of churches;
(ii) By a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of his or her ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by that order;
(iii) In a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury or providing remunerative work for individuals who, because of their impaired physical or mental capacity, cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market, by an individual receiving that rehabilitation or remunerative work;
(iv) As part of an unemployment work relief or work-training program assisted or financed in whole, or in part, by any federal agency or an agency of a state or one of its political subdivisions, by an individual receiving that work relief or work training;
(v) In the employ of a hospital by a patient of the hospital; or
(vi) By an inmate of a custodial or penal institution;
(5) Service with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under an unemployment compensation system established by an act of Congress. The director is authorized and directed to enter into agreements with the proper agencies under that act of Congress, which agreements shall become effective ten (10) days after their publication as in the manner provided in § 28-42-34, to provide reciprocal treatment to individuals who have, after acquiring potential rights to benefits under chapters 42 — 44 of this title, acquired rights to unemployment compensation under that act of Congress, or who have, after acquiring potential rights to unemployment compensation under that act of Congress, acquired rights to benefits under those chapters;
(6) Service covered by an election duly approved by the agency charged with the administration of any other state or federal employment security law in accordance with an arrangement pursuant to § 28-42-58 during the effective period of that election, except as provided in § 28-42-3(16)(i);
(7) Services performed by an individual, in any calendar quarter on or after January 1, 1972, in the employ of any organization exempt from income tax under 26 U.S.C. § 501(a) (other than services performed for an organization defined in § 28-42-3(25) or for any organization described in 26 U.S.C. § 401(a) or under 26 U.S.C. § 521) if the remuneration for that service is less than fifty dollars ($50.00);
(8) Service that is occasional, incidental, and occurs irregularly, and is not in the course of the employing unit’s trade or business. Service for a corporation shall not be excluded;
(9) Service as a golf caddy, except as to service performed solely for a club with respect to which the club alone bears the expense. A golf caddy, except as in this specifically provided subdivision, shall not be construed to be an “employee” as defined in § 28-42-3(15);
(10) Notwithstanding any provisions of titles 5 and 27, service performed by an individual as a real estate salesperson if all the service performed by that individual is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;
(11) Notwithstanding any provisions of titles 5 and 27, service performed by an individual as an insurance broker, agent, or subagent if all the service performed by that individual is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission. This exemption shall not apply to service performed as industrial and debit insurance agents;
(12) Service performed by an individual who is enrolled at a nonprofit or public educational institution that normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regular organized body of students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are carried on, as a student in a full-time program, taken for credit at that institution that combines academic instruction with work experience, if that service is an integral part of that program, and that institution has so certified to the employer, except that this subdivision shall not apply to service performed in a program established for, or on behalf of, an employer or group of employers;
(13) Service performed by an individual on a boat engaged in catching fish or other forms of aquatic animal life under an arrangement with the owner or operator of that boat pursuant to which:
(i) That individual does not receive any cash remuneration other than a share of the boat’s catch of fish or other forms of aquatic animal life or a share of the proceeds from the sale of that catch; and
(ii) The operating crew of that boat is normally made up of fewer than ten (10) individuals;
(14) Services performed by a member of an Americorps program; and
(15) Services performed by a self-employed individual.
History of Section.P.L. 1936, ch. 2333, § 3; P.L. 1937, ch. 2556, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 284, § 3; P.L. 1939, ch. 659, § 2; P.L. 1939, ch. 670, § 1; P.L. 1949, ch. 2175, § 1; impl. am. P.L. 1953, ch. 3206, § 1; P.L. 1955, ch. 3421, § 1; impl. am. P.L. 1955, ch. 3428, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 28-42-8; P.L. 1958, ch. 189, § 1; P.L. 1961, ch. 170, § 1; P.L. 1962, ch. 27, § 1; P.L. 1963, ch. 146, § 1; P.L. 1965, ch. 114, § 1; P.L. 1971, ch. 94, §§ 3, 4; P.L. 1974, ch. 275, § 1; P.L. 1977, ch. 92, § 3; P.L. 1980, ch. 300, § 1; P.L. 1983, ch. 61, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 277, § 1; P.L. 1996, ch. 15, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 179, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 203, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 101, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 113, § 1.

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