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Rhode Island Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Estimate a Rhode Island workers' comp premium from payroll, a rate per $100 and your experience mod. Defaults are explained under the rate field.

Regulator
Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Division of Workers' Compensation
Market Type
Private insurers and Beacon Mutual
Rating Organization
NCCI
Class System
NCCI class codes
Step 1 — Your Business
About Your Rhode Island Business
Step 2 — Experience & Claims
Your Claims History
Total Incurred ($)
# of Claims
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Step 3 — Compare Options
Coverage Options
Your Results
Premium Estimate
Estimated Annual Premium
$0
Payroll/100 × Rate × EMR
YearEstimate
Illustrative Mod Path (3 Years)
Current Path
PEO Path

An estimate, not a quote. How this calculator works.

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Workers' comp in Rhode Island: what's different

Rhode Island has a competitive market with one unusual feature: a state compensation insurance fund, The Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, that the General Assembly set up as the carrier of last resort. Private carriers compete alongside it. Two agencies share the work. The Department of Labor and Training (DLT) runs the Division of Workers' Compensation and enforces coverage, while the Department of Business Regulation (DBR) Insurance Division approves the advisory loss costs that NCCI files each year. Disputes over claims go to the Workers' Compensation Court.

Who must carry coverage

DLT puts the rule plainly: with limited exceptions, an employer with one or more employees needs a policy. The statute reaches every person, firm and private corporation that regularly employs workers in the same business.

  • Domestic and farm work. Domestic service is outside the act. Farms are outside the act unless they employ 25 or more farm laborers for 13 consecutive weeks.
  • Owners. Sole proprietors and partners are not employees under the act. LLC members, shareholders and directors are excluded too, unless they have actually entered into employment with the company.
  • Corporate officers. DLT says most officers are covered as employees. An officer who wants out files a waiver, the Notice of Claim of Common Law Rights (DWC-11), with DLT. An officer who waives gets no comp benefits but can sue the employer in civil court.
  • Real estate agents. Licensed brokers, salespeople and appraisers paid by commission under a written independent contractor agreement are not employees.
  • Independent contractors. Rhode Island uses a filing rule. A contractor files a Notice of Designation (DWC 11-IC) with DLT, once a year for each hiring entity. The filing creates a presumption of contractor status. Without it, a court can still find that someone is a contractor, but the presumption is gone.
  • General contractors. A GC or construction manager must get written proof that each subcontractor carries comp or has filed as an independent contractor. Without it, the GC is treated as the employer.

Rhode Island adds a hiring rule you may not see elsewhere. On the first page of every written job application, you must say whether you are subject to the comp act or exempt, and which exemption applies.

Where coverage comes from

The law offers four routes: a policy from an authorized stock or mutual insurer, DLT approval to self-insure, a mix of self-insurance and excess insurance, or membership in an authorized group self-insurance fund.

Beacon Mutual sits in a different spot from other carriers. Public Law 2003, chapter 410, calls it "the state compensation insurance fund," organizes it as a domestic mutual insurer, and states that it shall be the carrier of last resort. The act repealed the old chapter 27-7.2 and was deliberately kept out of the codified General Laws. Amendments passed in 2011 changed the makeup of its board.

Self-insurers must prove they can pay claims and post security or a bond with the DLT director. The certificate lasts no more than a year and must be renewed annually. Application fees run from $300 for 1 to 249 Rhode Island employees up to $500 for 1,000 or more.

Who sets rates

NCCI files advisory loss costs with DBR. Once approved, every insurer writing comp in Rhode Island must use them as one part of its rates, adding its own loss cost multiplier.

On April 23, 2026, DBR approved NCCI's filing for August 1, 2026: an average 2.5% loss cost decrease for industrial classes, 12.9% down for "F" classes, and no change for USL&HW classes. Insurers had until June 30, 2026 to tell DBR whether they would adopt the new loss costs and what multipliers they proposed.

Beacon's own rates are subject to regulation under chapter 27-7.1, the state's workers' comp insurance law.

Experience rating

Rhode Island uses NCCI's Experience Rating Plan Manual. For ratings effective February 1, 2026 or later, you qualify with at least $14,000 of subject premium in the latest 24 months of the experience period, or $7,000 of average annual subject premium when more than 24 months are used.

If no insurer will write you

Go to Beacon. DLT's FAQ (last updated May 2025) says that if you cannot get a policy from another carrier, Beacon Mutual should provide it. Under its 2003 charter, the fund must cover any employer that tenders the necessary premium. Beacon can still refuse or cancel for unpaid premium, for withholding information about ownership, operations or payroll, or for failing its safety requirements. Most such decisions (other than nonpayment cancellations) can be appealed in writing to the DBR director within 30 days.

Penalties for going uninsured

  • Criminal. Knowingly failing to carry comp is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. DLT adds that a conviction can bring a $10,000 fine.
  • Civil. Up to $1,000 for each day without coverage, with each day a separate offense.
  • Shutdown. The DLT director must suspend the business immediately until coverage is in place. You can appeal to the Workers' Compensation Court.
  • Personal liability. Corporate officers, LLC managers and managing members, and partners can be held personally liable for the penalty and for benefits owed to an injured worker.
  • Clerical lapses. If the lapse was unintentional, lasted under a year, no one got hurt, and you have no prior violations, the director instead assesses between one and three times your estimated annual premium.

If a worker is hurt while you are uninsured, the Uninsured Protection Fund may pay weekly benefits. The state then gets a lien on your goods and chattels (movable property) for what the fund pays.

Your ongoing obligations

  • Post the summary. Display the state poster naming your insurer or adjusting company. Your insurer supplies it. Failing to post costs $250 per offense.
  • Report injuries. Tell your insurer about any work injury, even one you doubt. The insurer files electronically with DLT within 10 days if the injury needs medical care or keeps the worker from full wages for three or more days, and within 48 hours of a death. Skipping the notice brings a $250 penalty.
  • Keep the policy reported. Your insurer must notify DLT within five days of the policy's effective date, and a cancellation is not effective until DLT receives written notice. DLT's coverage lookup draws on policy data from NCCI, its designated agent.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

Premium = (payroll / 100) x rate per $100 x experience mod

The starting figure is NCCI's advisory loss cost for class 5551 (roofing) in the Rhode Island filing DBR approved, effective August 1, 2026: $7.324 per $100 of payroll. A loss cost covers expected losses and loss adjustment expense only, so each insurer multiplies it by its own loss cost multiplier.

  • Hypothetical roofing payroll: $250,000
  • Advisory loss cost, class 5551 (effective August 1, 2026): $7.324
  • Illustrative loss cost multiplier: 1.45 (not any insurer's filed figure)
  • Hypothetical experience mod: 0.90

Step by step

  1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
  2. Rate per $100: $7.324 x 1.45 = $10.6198
  3. Manual premium: 2,500 x $10.6198 = $26,549.50
  4. Apply the mod: $26,549.50 x 0.90 = $23,894.55

A real quote will differ, starting with your insurer's actual multiplier.

Frequently asked questions

Is Beacon Mutual a state fund?

The 2003 law that governs it calls Beacon "the state compensation insurance fund" and makes it the carrier of last resort, but it operates as a mutual insurer and competes with private carriers. You can buy from any authorized insurer.

Do I need coverage for one employee?

Yes, with limited exceptions such as domestic service, most farms, sole proprietors and partners. DLT says employers with one or more employees must carry it.

Can a corporate officer opt out?

Yes. Officers are usually covered, but one can file a DWC-11 waiver with DLT. That officer then has no comp benefits and keeps the right to sue.

Did Rhode Island loss costs go down in 2026?

Yes. DBR approved an average 2.5% decrease for industrial classes effective August 1, 2026. Your own change depends on your class codes and your insurer's multiplier.

Official sources

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Division of Workers' Compensation.

Reviewer: Sam Newland, CFP, Founder of Benefitra. Last updated October 17, 2026. How the calculator works. Editorial policy.