Rhode Island Temporary Disability and Caregiver Insurance: Who Pays, Who Is Covered, and What It Provides

Rhode Island's paid family leave is Temporary Caregiver Insurance, or TCI, a wage-replacement benefit that sits inside the state's Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program. TDI pays eligible workers who can't work because of their own non-work-related illness, injury or pregnancy-related incapacity. TCI pays eligible workers who take time off to bond with a newborn, newly adopted or newly fostered child, or to care for a seriously ill family member. Both are funded by employee payroll deductions, not by an employer-paid policy. For benefit years beginning July 1, 2026 or later, the weekly benefit runs from $148 to $1,150 before any dependency allowance, according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (opens in a new tab). Getting paid and keeping your job are separate questions, so check both.

If you're planning time away from work, five things decide your situation: which program fits your reason, whether you have enough Rhode Island wages, the filing deadline and proof you'll need, whether another law protects your job, and how the leave fits with your employer's pay and any workers' compensation.

TDI or TCI: which one fits your leave?

TDI covers your own non-work-related illness, injury or pregnancy-related incapacity. A qualified healthcare provider has to certify that you're functionally unable to perform your customary and regular work duties, and you must be out of work for at least seven consecutive days, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). Recovery from childbirth falls under TDI when a provider certifies it. A work-related injury belongs under workers' compensation instead.

TCI covers time off to care for someone else or to bond with a new child. According to DLT (opens in a new tab), qualifying reasons are:

• Bonding with a newborn, a newly adopted child or a newly placed foster child, during the first 12 months of parenting
• Caring for a seriously ill child, parent, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, parent-in-law or grandparent

Siblings were added to the family-member list effective January 1, 2026, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-34 (opens in a new tab). Also starting January 1, 2026, bone marrow donors can receive one week of TCI and organ donors can receive 30 business days, according to DLT (opens in a new tab).

A new parent who gives birth may use both: TDI for the certified recovery period, then TCI for bonding.

Who qualifies?

You need enough Rhode Island wages that had TDI deductions taken out. For claims effective January 1, 2026 or later, the main test is at least $19,200 in base-period wages, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). If you fall short of that, you can still qualify by meeting all three of these:

• At least $3,200 in one base-period quarter
• Total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest-quarter wages
• At least $6,400 in base-period taxable wages

Those dollar figures come from formulas in R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-11 (opens in a new tab) tied to the minimum hourly wage, so they change as that wage changes.

The base period is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim begins. If that period doesn't qualify you, DLT can use an alternate base period of the last four completed quarters.

Part-time workers can qualify if they meet the same wage and deduction tests. Self-employed people are not automatically in the program; coverage depends on a specific election, so confirm voluntary coverage, contributions and eligibility with DLT before counting on benefits. Government employers are generally exempt from the program under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-39-3 (opens in a new tab), though some may elect coverage and unionized state employees may elect it through collective bargaining. If you work in the public sector, ask your employer or DLT whether you're covered.

How much does TDI or TCI pay?

Your weekly rate is 4.62% of the wages you earned in the highest-paid quarter of your base period, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). TCI uses the same calculation. For benefit years beginning July 1, 2026 or later:

Sources: DLT claimant FAQ (opens in a new tab), DLT benefit announcement (opens in a new tab).

The dependency allowance adds the greater of $20 or 7% of your weekly rate for each eligible dependent child, up to five dependents.

To estimate your own rate, find your highest-paid quarter in the base period and multiply those wages by 4.62%; the result is then held between the $148 minimum and the $1,150 maximum. Your official figure appears on the Benefit Computation Statement DLT sends after you file, so check it against your pay records.

How long can you receive benefits?

TDI lasts up to 30 full weeks. Your actual number of weeks is 36% of your total base-period wages divided by your weekly benefit rate, not counting the dependency allowance, according to DLT (opens in a new tab).

TCI provides up to eight weeks in a benefit year under current DLT guidance, and any TCI weeks you use reduce the TDI weeks left in that same benefit year. Older statutory text in R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-35 (opens in a new tab) still shows six weeks, so confirm the current number of TCI weeks with DLT before you plan around it.

Who pays, and how much comes out of your paycheck?

Employees fund TDI and TCI entirely through payroll deductions, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). Your employer withholds the money and sends it to the state; there's no separate TCI premium to buy.

Source: DLT 2026 tax rate announcement (opens in a new tab).

The contribution equals the program's cost rate times your wages up to the wage base, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-40-1 (opens in a new tab). If you worked for more than one Rhode Island employer and paid TDI tax on more than the wage base in total, a refund process is available through the DLT Employer Tax Unit (opens in a new tab). Whether your benefits are taxable differs between TDI and TCI, so read the DLT tax information page (opens in a new tab) for the year you claim.

How do you apply?

You can't file before your leave starts. A claim can be entered only once you're out of work because of the illness, injury, caregiving or bonding, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). Claims are filed through the DLT online claim portal (opens in a new tab), and paper application packets are also available.

For TDI:

• File within 90 days of your first week out of work.
• After you apply, DLT mails a medical certification form for your healthcare provider to complete and return as DLT directs.
• If you're eligible, benefits begin with your first day out of work, subject to the seven-consecutive-day rule.

For TCI:

• File during the first 30 days after your first day of leave.
• For caregiving, provide medical documentation of your family member's serious health condition.
• For bonding, provide proof of the parent-child or placement relationship.
• An employer statement or advance notice to your employer may also apply, especially when the leave is foreseeable, according to the TCI application packet (opens in a new tab).

Payments go by direct deposit or electronic payment card; DLT no longer issues paper checks. Approved benefits are usually deposited within 48 to 72 hours after approval. If a claim is denied or the payment information looks wrong, contact DLT; appeal information is in the TDI application packet (opens in a new tab).

Does TDI or TCI protect your job?

A benefit check and job protection come from different rules. Rhode Island law doesn't generally require an employer to hold the job of someone using TDI alone, though other state or federal laws may apply, according to DLT (opens in a new tab).

TCI is different. The TCI statute, R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-35 (opens in a new tab), provides restoration and health-benefit protections for employees on qualifying TCI leave, and an employer may require TCI to run at the same time as federal or state family leave when the legal conditions apply.

Two other laws may protect your job:

• Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act. If you've worked for the same employer for 12 consecutive months, you can take up to 13 consecutive workweeks of parental or family leave in any two calendar years, with at least 30 days' notice unless a medical emergency prevents it, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-48-2 (opens in a new tab). The leave may be unpaid. You must be restored to the same or an equivalent position, and existing health benefits continue during qualifying leave, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-48-3 (opens in a new tab).
• Federal FMLA. Eligible employees of covered employers can take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, with group health coverage continued and restoration to the same or a virtually identical job, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (opens in a new tab). Eligibility generally requires 12 months of employment, at least 1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months, and a worksite with at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

Ask your employer in writing which of these applies to you and whether they'll run at the same time as TCI.

How do TDI and TCI work with workers' compensation and employer pay?

You can't receive TDI or TCI for a period covered by workers' compensation, according to DLT (opens in a new tab) and R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-6 (opens in a new tab). If your workers' compensation claim is contested, you may be eligible for TDI while it's resolved, and if workers' compensation is later awarded for weeks when TDI was paid, you must tell DLT so the benefits can be adjusted.

Employer pay is treated differently. While you're totally unable to work, you can receive TDI or TCI alongside salary, sick pay, vacation pay or benefits from a private disability policy, as long as you're not performing services for the company, according to DLT (opens in a new tab).

If your healthcare provider allows part-time work and your employer has work for you, partial TDI may be available, and your earnings and other payments count under the partial-payment rules. Partial return to work applies only to TDI, not to TCI bonding or caregiving claims.

What employers must do

Employer duties under TDI and TCI are mostly payroll and notice tasks, according to DLT (opens in a new tab):

• Deduct the TDI tax from employee wages, 1.1% on the first $100,000 for 2026.
• Send it to the Employer Tax Unit (opens in a new tab) quarterly with the required tax and wage reports.
• Provide wage and employment reports when TDI requests them.
• Display the Notice to All Employees poster, which R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-15 (opens in a new tab) requires.
• Give TDI and TCI information to new employees and to employees on qualifying leave, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-39 (opens in a new tab).

Rhode Island law includes penalties for failing to file required reports or pay required contributions. For the penalty that applies to a specific situation, contact the Employer Tax Unit. Our Rhode Island small business insurance guide covers the other coverage employers need, including workers' compensation.

Questions to settle before leave begins

• Is this absence my own certified incapacity (TDI), or bonding or caregiving (TCI)?
• Have enough Rhode Island wages and TDI deductions been reported for my base period?
• What does my healthcare provider need to complete, and what relationship proof do I need?
• What is my filing deadline: 90 days for TDI or 30 days for TCI?
• Does Rhode Island family leave or FMLA protect my job, and will it run at the same time as TCI?
• How will my health plan contributions be handled while I'm out?
• Will sick pay, vacation pay or private disability payments be involved?

Frequently asked questions

Can I get TCI to care for my brother or sister?

Yes, since January 1, 2026. Siblings are now on the list of qualifying family members for caregiver leave, according to DLT (opens in a new tab).

How long do I have to be out of work to get TDI?

At least seven consecutive days, with a qualified healthcare provider certifying that you can't do your regular work, according to DLT (opens in a new tab). If you're eligible, benefits begin with your first day out of work.

Can my employer make me use TCI and FMLA at the same time?

An employer may require TCI to run concurrently with FMLA or Rhode Island family leave when the legal conditions apply, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-41-35 (opens in a new tab).

I had two jobs and paid too much TDI tax. Can I get it back?

If your combined TDI-taxed wages from more than one employer went over the annual wage base, a refund is available through the DLT Employer Tax Unit (opens in a new tab).

Your next step

Write down your first day out of work and which program fits your reason, then file within the deadline, 90 days for TDI and 30 days for TCI, through the DLT claim portal (opens in a new tab). At the same time, ask your employer which job-protection law applies to you. Benefit figures and contribution rates change each year, so confirm current numbers with DLT (opens in a new tab) before you plan your budget around them.