Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.

Plain-English Summary

This Rhode Island bill would expand overtime pay protections to salaried workers who are currently considered "exempt" from overtime requirements. Under existing law, many salaried employees — regardless of how many hours they work — do not receive extra pay for working more than 40 hours per week. This bill would change that by requiring employers to pay overtime to these workers unless the employee's salary meets or exceeds a certain threshold based on a multiple of the state's minimum wage.

The specific salary thresholds would differ depending on the size of the employer. Small businesses with 1 to 50 employees would follow one set of salary multipliers, while larger employers with 50 or more employees would follow a different (likely higher) set. If a salaried worker's pay falls below the applicable threshold, their employer would be required to pay them overtime — typically time-and-a-half — for any hours worked beyond 40 in a week.

This bill would primarily affect salaried workers in lower- and middle-income positions, such as managers, supervisors, or office workers who are currently classified as exempt but earn relatively modest salaries. Employers of all sizes in Rhode Island would need to review their payroll practices and potentially either raise certain employees' salaries above the threshold or begin paying them overtime. The bill has been introduced and referred to the Senate Labor and Gaming Committee, where it will be reviewed before any further action is taken.