Workers' comp · RI
Rhode Island workers' comp calculator
Rhode Island stopped computing benefits from after-tax pay in 2022 and now uses a single percentage of gross wages.
Rules read on official Rhode Island pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 62%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,691
- from October 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- none
- no statutory floor
- Waiting period
- 3 days
- unpaid
For injuries on or after January 1, 2022, Rhode Island pays total incapacity at 62% of the average weekly base wage, earnings or salary, before taxes. Injuries through December 31, 2021 are still paid at 75% of spendable earnings, the gross wage minus income tax and FICA. The maximum rate changes every October 1: for injuries from October 1, 2026, the Department of Labor and Training set it at $1,691 a week, 125% of the state average weekly wage, reached at a wage of about $2,727. There is no statutory minimum. A worker earning $900 receives $558 a week, and each wholly dependent spouse or child adds a dependency allowance, though the total may not exceed 80% of the worker's own wage. Indemnity begins on the fourth day of incapacity; the first 3 days are not paid back. The state average wage in force on the injury date applies for the full period of compensation.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Rhode Island
$682
$2,955 a month · 62% of the wage, tax-free
| 62% of $1,100 | $682 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,691 / none |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 27 / 3 |
| Total for the time off | $2,631 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Division of Workers' Compensation rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
From take-home pay to gross pay
Until the end of 2021, a Rhode Island claim started with a conversion table: the director published, every May, the 75% of spendable earnings that matched each gross wage, after federal and state income tax and Social Security and Medicare withholding. The current text of R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-17 replaces that with a plain 62% of the gross average weekly wage for injuries from January 1, 2022. Older claims keep the old method for as long as they are paid, so two coworkers hurt a few weeks apart can receive very different checks on the same wage.
The dependency allowance changes the result
In Rhode Island, family size moves the weekly figure. Each person wholly dependent on the injured worker, a spouse not working for wages or a child under 18, adds $25 a week from January 1, 2025. A Providence line cook earning $900 receives $558 on his wage alone; with a spouse at home and two children, $633, because the total cannot pass 80% of his wage. The calculator shows only the wage part, so add the allowance yourself.
October, not January
The DLT table of maximum compensation rates moves each October 1, on a scale that has climbed from 100% of the state average in 1975 to 115% in 2007, 120% in 2016 and 125% since October 1, 2017. A marine engineer in Newport earning $3,000 receives the $1,691 maximum. The rate that applies is the one in force on the date of injury, for the whole claim.
Three days, never refunded
Section 28-33-4 starts compensation on the fourth day of incapacity and has no clause that pays the first three back later. The cook out three days receives $0; out three weeks, $1,435, eighteen days of benefits. For employers insured in the residual market, the first $250 of indemnity and the first $250 of medical expense may be charged back to the employer as a deductible (§ 28-33-4). For permanent losses, Rhode Island pays specific-loss awards for loss or loss of use of body parts and disfigurement under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-19, in addition to wage-loss benefits; partial incapacity is paid under § 28-33-18.
See how much workers’ comp pays for settlements and lump sums.
The Rhode Island rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Rhode Island |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 62% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,691 |
| Weekly minimum | none |
| Applies to | injuries on or after October 1, 2026 (for October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026: $1,622) |
| Waiting period | 3 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. For injuries on or after January 1, 2022, total incapacity is paid at 62% of the average weekly base wages, earnings or salary (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-17(a)(1)). For injuries on or before December 31, 2021, it was 75% of average weekly spendable base wages (gross wages minus federal/state income tax and FICA, § 28-33-17(a)(3)). Maximum: 125% of the state average weekly wage since October 1, 2017, rounded up to the next dollar. A dependency allowance of $25.00 per wholly dependent person is added (from January 1, 2025), total capped at 80% of the employee's average weekly wage (§ 28-33-17(c)(1)). source
Waiting period. No indemnity is paid for an injury that does not incapacitate the employee for at least three days; if incapacity extends beyond three days, compensation begins on the fourth day from the date of injury. The statute provides no retroactive payment of the first three days (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-4). source
Duration. § 28-33-17 sets no week limit for total incapacity; total disability is presumed for listed losses (both eyes, both feet, both hands, hand and foot, paralysis, skull injury) and otherwise requires inability to earn wages in any employment (§ 28-33-17(b)). source
Permanent disability. Rhode Island pays specific-loss awards for loss or loss of use of body parts and disfigurement under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-19, in addition to wage-loss benefits; partial incapacity is paid under § 28-33-18. source
Worth knowing in Rhode Island
- Rhode Island switched on January 1, 2022 from 75% of after-tax 'spendable' earnings to 62% of gross average weekly wages (§ 28-33-17(a)(1)). source
- The maximum weekly rate changes every October 1 (it changed on September 1 until 2015) and has been 125% of the state average weekly wage since October 1, 2017. source
- Dependency allowance: $25.00 a week per wholly dependent person from January 1, 2025 ($40.00 for permanent-total cases under § 28-33-12), capped at 80% of the worker's average weekly wage except in § 28-33-12 cases. source
- For employers insured in the residual market, the first $250 of indemnity and the first $250 of medical expense may be charged back to the employer as a deductible (§ 28-33-4). source