# Rhode Island — Meal and rest break requirements by US state — hours worked before a break is owed, its length, and whether it's paid, quoted from the state's own labor law

For Rhode Island, meal break rule is All employees are entitled to a twenty-minute (20) mealtime within a six-hour (6) work shift, and a thirty-minute (30) mealtime with an eight-hour (8) work shift; statute or regulation is R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-3-14, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Rhode Island _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Meal break rule:** All employees are entitled to a twenty-minute (20) mealtime within a six-hour (6) work shift, and a thirty-minute (30) mealtime with an eight-hour (8) work shift _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or regulation:** R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-3-14 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> All employees are entitled to a twenty-minute (20) mealtime within a six-hour (6) work shift, and a thirty-minute (30) mealtime with an eight-hour (8) work shift. An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee for this mealtime.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Meal break rule

> All employees are entitled to a twenty-minute (20) mealtime within a six-hour (6) work shift, and a thirty-minute (30) mealtime with an eight-hour (8) work shift. An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee for this mealtime.

### Statute or regulation

> § 28-3-14. Maximum continuous employment without mealtime.

## Source

- https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE28/28-3/28-3-14.htm

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Meal and rest break requirements by US state — hours worked before a break is owed, its length, and whether it's paid, quoted from the state's own labor law](https://referencesource.org/meal-and-rest-break-requirements-by-state/).