Rhode Island teen jobs: the school permit, the training course, and the $16 wage

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A 14-year-old in Warwick wants a summer job at an ice cream stand near Oakland Beach. In Rhode Island, the first stop is not the stand. It is the school department, because the state gives each city and town's school committee the job of issuing work permits. Before that permit is signed, the teen has to finish a short training course from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT, the state labor agency). This article covers the permit, the hour limits, the pay, and where to report a problem.

The permit starts at your school department

Rhode Island law lets the school committee of each city or town, or a person it chooses, issue a 'special limited permit to work' to a child who has turned 14. The permit form is the same everywhere in the state, and DLT writes it. The permit covers work outside school hours only, and it cannot be used for factory or manufacturing jobs.

There is one step many families miss. Since 2022, a young worker must certify to DLT that they completed its training on workers' rights, workplace safety, and workers' compensation (money and care if you get hurt on the job). By law the course is no longer than three hours and is available online. Do it first, then take proof of age to the school office.

How many hours, and how late

Under 16, Rhode Island caps work in a store or other business at 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, is tighter for 14- and 15-year-olds during the school year, and an employer has to follow both. So a 15-year-old in Cranston should expect short school-day shifts.

At 16 and 17, the state limit is 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week, with at least 8 hours off between one day's shift and the next. A student cannot work before 6 a.m. or after 11:30 p.m. on a night before a school day. On a night with no school the next day, work can run until 1:30 a.m. During school vacations, Rhode Island drops the daily and weekly totals for 16- and 17-year-olds, as long as federal rules allow it.

Pay, and who wrote the rules

Rhode Island's minimum wage is $16.00 an hour starting January 1, 2026, and $17.00 starting January 1, 2027. That is more than double the federal minimum of $7.25. The state wage law we read does not list a lower rate for teens, so do not accept less just because of your age without asking DLT.

Congress's power to set these rules was settled in United States v. Darby (1941). The Supreme Court held that Congress can set wage and hour rules for workers who make goods shipped across state lines, and it overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), which had said Congress could not keep the products of child labor out of interstate trade.

Where to report a problem

중요

In Rhode Island, the Division of Labor Standards inside DLT enforces the child labor law, and complaints are brought in the name of the DLT director or that division's chief. If your boss schedules you past 11:30 p.m. on a school night, pays under $16, or has no permit on file for you, write down your dates and hours and contact DLT's Labor Standards unit.

Your employer must keep your permit while you work there. When the job ends, the permit goes back. If you are unsure whether your age needs a permit, ask the school department in your city or town, since it issues them.

기억하세요

Rhode Island work permits come from your city or town's school committee, starting at age 14.
Finish DLT's online workers' rights training, three hours or less, before the permit can be issued.
At 16 and 17, the school-night cutoff is 11:30 p.m., with a limit of 9 hours a day and 48 a week.
The state minimum wage is $16 an hour, and DLT's Division of Labor Standards takes child labor complaints.

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