Rhode Island requires final wages by the next regular payday after separation.
Law: R.I. Gen. Laws §28-14-4 · Rules checked October 2026
The same next-payday deadline applies when you quit. The free wage claim for either path goes to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
Rhode Island sets no automatic waiting-time penalty; unpaid wages are recovered through the Department of Labor and Training or court.
Your state treats earned vacation as wages: if you had accrued, unused vacation when you left, it must be paid in your final check. Forfeiture clauses ("use it or lose it" at separation) are void here.
The free claim goes to Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. It costs nothing and you do not need a lawyer; what you need is the amount computed, the demand already sent where your state rewards one, and the file assembled.
Filing window: set by state law and shorter than people expect — file within weeks, not months.
Compute your Rhode Island verdict — free
General information from the published statute — not legal advice. Penalty figures elsewhere on this site are statutory maximums, with willfulness conditions named where the statute names them.