R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-40-8: Date from which employees become subject to provisions.

If any employing unit that is or becomes an employer subject to chapters 39 — 41 of this title within the calendar year 1942, or within any calendar year after that, the employees of that employing unit shall become subject to all the provisions of those chapters from the date upon which that employing unit became an employer subject to the provisions of those chapters.