Workers' comp weekly benefit in Rhode Island: how much it pays

Weekly compensation for total incapacity (temporary total disability) can pay 62% of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,691 a week (on or after October 1, 2026).

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Weekly benefit in Rhode Island

What it pays: 62% of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum: $1,691 a week (on or after October 1, 2026)
Minimum rule: Rhode Island law sets no minimum weekly amount for total incapacity; you receive 62% of your average weekly wage, plus any dependency allowance.
Applies to: Injuries occurring on or after October 1, 2026 (until the next annual maximum is announced)
How your wages are figured: Your average weekly wage is your gross wages, including overtime, earned from the employer during the 13 calendar weeks before the week of injury, divided by the number of weeks you worked. Bonuses and overtime are averaged over up to 52 weeks. If you had more than one job in those 13 weeks, wages from all employers are combined.
How long it can last: Weekly compensation for total incapacity continues while your incapacity for work is total. Total disability is decided only if you are physically unable to earn any wages in any employment, with an exception for manifest injustice.

For injuries on or after January 1, 2022, weekly compensation for total incapacity is 62% of your gross average weekly wage. You also get $25 a week for each person wholly dependent on you (such as children under 18, or a spouse living with you who is not working), but the dependency amounts cannot raise the total above 80% of your average weekly wage. For injuries on or after October 1, 2026, the maximum weekly compensation (before dependency amounts) is $1,691. The maximum is 125% of the state average weekly wage, rounded up to the next dollar, and the Department announces a new maximum for injuries on or after each October 1; the maximum on your injury date applies for the whole time you are paid.

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 28-33-17(a), (c), 28-33-20

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Changes in 2024–2026

Maximum weekly compensation for total incapacity is $1,691 for injuries on or after October 1, 2026 (DLT Information Letter 26-03, September 25, 2026), up from $1,622 for injuries on or after October 1, 2025 (Information Letter 25-04). The dependency allowance for total incapacity rose from $15 to $25 per dependent on January 1, 2025.

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-17(c)(1)

Benefit estimate calculator

We do not offer a calculator for Rhode Island: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.

Sources

The official sources for Rhode Island are listed on the Rhode Island page.

National rules that may also matter

Taxes, Social Security, leave and the ADA

Taxes on workers' compensation Workers' compensation benefits for a work injury or illness are fully exempt from federal income tax when they are paid under a workers' compensation law. Pay you get for doing light-duty work is taxable as wages. If your workers' compensation reduces your Social Security benefits, that part may be taxable as Social Security benefits. Federal employees: FECA compensation is not taxable, but continuation of pay (up to 45 days) and sick leave pay while a claim is decided are taxed as wages.

Law: IRS Publication 525 (2025), Workers' Compensation; 26 U.S.C. 104(a)(1)

Social Security disability and workers' compensation If you get Social Security disability benefits and workers' compensation at the same time, Social Security may reduce its benefit. The reduction applies when your Social Security benefits (including benefits paid to your family on your record) plus your workers' compensation are more than 80% of your 'average current earnings', or more than your family's Social Security benefit before the reduction, if that is higher. A lump-sum workers' compensation settlement can also be counted. The reduction stops when you reach full retirement age. It does not apply when the state law paying your workers' compensation reduces that benefit instead for people on Social Security, if that state rule was in place on February 18, 1981.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 424a(a), (b), (d); SSA POMS DI 52101.001, DI 52105.001

Job-protected leave (FMLA) The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, and keeps your group health coverage. It covers private employers with 50 or more employees in at least 20 workweeks of this year or last year, all public agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools. You are eligible if you worked there at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave, and work at a site with at least 50 employees within 75 miles. Time off for a work injury can count as FMLA leave if your employer designates it. If your doctor clears you only for light duty, you may turn down a light-duty job and stay on unpaid FMLA leave until it runs out, but you may lose workers' compensation payments.

Law: 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.; 29 CFR 825.207(e); DOL Wage and Hour Division, Family and Medical Leave Act

Disability rights when you go back to work (ADA) Not every work injury is a 'disability' under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If yours is, an employer with 15 or more employees may have to make a reasonable accommodation, unless it would cause undue hardship, for example by moving minor (marginal) duties you cannot do to other workers or changing your schedule. The employer does not have to remove the essential functions of the job.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 12111(5)(A); EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Workers' Compensation and the ADA (Notice 915.002)

In these states, the state reduces some or all types of workers' compensation for people who also get Social Security disability, so Social Security does not reduce its benefit for those payments.

States that reduce workers' comp when you also get Social Security disability: Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin.