Articles About Hawaii Labor And Employment Law.

Under current federal law, employers may legally require workers to attend meetings during working hours that concern the employer’s views on politics, religion and similar matters.

On September 28, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued updated guidance for employers that have adopted or are considering leave-based programs that allow employees to donate sick, vacation, or personal leave to their employers to make donations to charitable organizations helping those affected by the 2023 Hawaii wildfires.

The Hawaiian island of Maui has been ravaged by unprecedented and quickly moving wildfires, which have taken a particular toll on hospitality employers. As the U.S. enters peak hurricane season, the Hawaiian and Canadian wildfires and the flooding caused by the recent California tropical storm serve as a reminder for

Governor Josh Green has signed the newest pay transparency bill into law for the state of Hawaii. SB 1057, which goes into effect on January 1, 2024, will require Hawaii employers with at least 50 employees to disclose an hourly rate or salary range that reasonably reflects the actual expected

On May 4, 2023, Hawaii lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would require employers to disclose hourly pay rates or salaries in job listings and expand pay discrimination protections—which could make the Aloha State the latest state to enact a pay transparency law.

Citing poverty concerns in, and the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on, the Aloha State, Hawaii Governor David Ige has signed House Bill 2510, gradually raising the State’s minimum wage to $18.00 per hour on January 1, 2028. Although, given HB 2510’s nearly six-year phase-in period, other states may

Hawaii has narrowed the scope of what employers can consider regarding an individual’s conviction history when making employment decisions.

Hawaii has long had a law limiting the discretion that employers have to consider older conviction records in making employment decisions.  Effective September 15, 2020, SB 2193 prevents most private sector employers from considering conviction records within the last 10 years, but only convictions within seven years for felony

Effective March 23, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. (HST), all residents on the island of Oahu in Hawaii have been ordered by the mayor to stay at home and work from home through April 30, 2020. A similar mayoral order goes into effect for residents on the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai on March 25, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami is expected to announce a similar shelter-in-place order. These are in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Hawaii will be joining the salary history ban trend beginning in 2019. On July 5, Governor David Ige signed into law a bill seeking to address the pay disparity between men and women who perform similar work.

On July 5, 2018, Governor David Y. Ige signed Senate Bill 2351 into law, adding Hawaii to the list of jurisdictions generally prohibiting employers from asking applicants about their prior compensation history.1 As long as employers have at least one employee in the state, they are covered.

Taking advantage of a new law that substantially increases penalties, the Wage Standards Division of the Hawaii State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (“DLIR”) has issued penalties totaling $767,095 to a construction company remodeling a hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii.

Considering whether Hawaii state law would require additional consideration for a non-compete imposed mid-employment, a federal judge has held that “the Hawaii Supreme Court would not require additional consideration beyond continuing at-will employment for [post-employment] restrictive covenants.” Standard Register v. Keala, Civ. No. 14-00291 JMS-RLP (D. Haw., June 8, 2015).

Closing a gap in Hawaii’s medical marijuana law, a new law sets up a regime of vertically integrated grow facilities and retail dispensing licenses for the delivery of medical marijuana to “cardholders” in Hawaii.

Departing from the state’s normally pro-employer laws and judicial attitudes regarding non-compete covenants, a new law bars high-tech companies in Hawaii from requiring their employees to enter into “non-compete” and “non-solicit” agreements as a condition of employment. The new law, Act 158, went into effect on July 1, 2015.