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Rhode Island background check laws for employers
Rhode Island bars employers with 4 or more employees from asking about arrests, charges, or convictions on the job application or otherwise before the first interview, with a few narrow exceptions. Employers must tell applicants before pulling a credit report and must name the credit bureau if they deny the job because of it. There is no state 7-year limit or credit-check ban beyond federal law.
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Fair-chance hiring (criminal history)
- The state fair employment law covers employers with 4 or more people working in Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-6(9)).
- An employer may not ask on a job application, or in any other way, whether the applicant has ever been arrested, charged with, or convicted of a crime (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7(7)).
- An employer may ask about convictions at the first interview or later (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7(7)(iii)).
- An employer may ask earlier only about specific convictions that a federal or state law makes disqualifying, or that would disqualify the applicant from a required fidelity bond (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7(7)(i)-(ii)).
- Law enforcement agency jobs are exempt (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7(7)).
- Complaints about criminal history questions on applications can be enforced by the Department of Labor and Training, working with the Commission for Human Rights (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-6.14-1).
State consumer report rules
- No person may request a credit report in connection with a job application unless the applicant is first told that a credit report may be requested (R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-21(a)).
- If a job is denied because of a credit report, the employer must tell the applicant and give the name and address of the credit bureau (R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-21(b)).
- For these rules, a 'credit report' means information bearing on credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity (R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-20(2)).
How far back a report can go
- No Rhode Island law found that limits how far back a background report may go beyond the federal FCRA; the state credit report chapter has no age limit (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 6-13.1, §§ 6-13.1-20 to 6-13.1-29).
- Employers may not ask about arrests or charges, and may ask about convictions only from the first interview on (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7(7)).
- A person whose conviction has been expunged may say on a job application that they were never convicted of that crime, except for law enforcement, bar admission, teaching or coaching certificates, and early childhood education jobs (R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4(b)).
Credit checks
- No Rhode Island law in effect limits employer use of credit reports beyond the notice rules in § 6-13.1-21; a 2026 bill to ban most credit checks in hiring (S 2324) was referred to committee and does not appear in the General Laws (R.I. Gen. Laws Title 28 index; 2026-S 2324).
Also good to know
- Nursing facilities, home nursing-care, hospice, and home-care providers must run a fingerprint-based national criminal check, started before or within one week of hire, for workers with unsupervised patient contact (R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-34(a)).
Common questions
Can Rhode Island employers run a background check?
Rhode Island bars employers with 4 or more employees from asking about arrests, charges, or convictions on the job application or otherwise before the first interview, with a few narrow exceptions. Employers must tell applicants before pulling a credit report and must name the credit bureau if they deny the job because of it. There is no state 7-year limit or credit-check ban beyond federal law.
Does Rhode Island have a ban-the-box law for private employers?
The state fair employment law covers employers with 4 or more people working in Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-6(9)).
How far back does a background check go in Rhode Island?
No Rhode Island law found that limits how far back a background report may go beyond the federal FCRA; the state credit report chapter has no age limit (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 6-13.1, §§ 6-13.1-20 to 6-13.1-29).
Can Rhode Island employers run credit checks on applicants?
No Rhode Island law in effect limits employer use of credit reports beyond the notice rules in § 6-13.1-21; a 2026 bill to ban most credit checks in hiring (S 2324) was referred to committee and does not appear in the General Laws (R.I. Gen. Laws Title 28 index; 2026-S 2324).
Some rules for Rhode Island weren't confirmed from an official source. Check with the state before relying on this page.
Sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-7 (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-6 definitions (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-6.14-1 enforcement (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-21 credit report notice (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-20 definitions (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 6-13.1 index (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4 effect of expungement (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-34 healthcare criminal records review (official)
- R.I. Gen. Laws Title 28 chapter index (official)
- 2026-S 2324 credit history bill text (official)
This page summarizes state law in plain words, with links to the law itself. It is not legal advice, and laws change: check the linked source, and talk to a lawyer about your own policy. Federal DOT testing rules are separate and override state limits for DOT-covered jobs. Checked October 2026.