REPORT TITLE:
Labor


DESCRIPTION:
Requires public contractors with the State to provide living
wages to their employees.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            1671        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO LABOR.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 2 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
 3 follows:
 
 4                             "CHAPTER
 
 5                           LIVING WAGES
 
 6      §   -1  Legislative findings.  The State awards many
 
 7 contracts to private firms to provide services to the public and
 
 8 to state government.  The State also provides financial
 
 9 assistance and funding to others for the purpose of economic
 
10 development or job growth.  The State also expends grant funds
 
11 under programs created by the federal and state governments.
 
12 These expenditures serve to promote the goals established for
 
13 those programs by such governments and the State.  The
 
14 legislature intends that the policies underlying this enactment
 
15 serve to guide the expenditure of such funds to the extent
 
16 allowed by the laws and rules under which such grant programs are
 
17 established and administered.
 
18      All too frequently the procurement by contract of services
 
19 has resulted in the payment of wages to employees by service
 

 
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 1 contractors at or slightly above the levels required by state and
 
 2 federal minimum wage laws.  This type of minimal compensation
 
 3 tends to reduce the quantity and quality of services rendered by
 
 4 these employees and to inhibit the recruitment of qualified
 
 5 individuals for such employment.  Underpayment of employees
 
 6 fosters high turnover, poor morale, and lackluster performance.
 
 7 Deficient minimum compensation also has compelled both spouses in
 
 8 our married population to work and to seek more than one job,
 
 9 often to the detriment of family values, child rearing,
 
10 education, and social stability.  Inadequate wages also
 
11 contribute directly in many instances to the deterioration of
 
12 individual health, where the affected employees cannot afford
 
13 medical and dental insurance, despite the existence of the Hawaii
 
14 Prepaid Health Act.
 
15      Conversely, adequate compensation promotes amelioration of
 
16 these undesirable conditions.  Through this enactment the
 
17 legislature intends to require service contractors to provide a
 
18 minimum level of compensation that will improve the level of
 
19 services rendered to and for the State.
 
20      Where inadequate compensation is paid, such payments fail to
 
21 provide service employees with resources sufficient to afford
 
22 life in Hawaii.  Condoning such undercompensation through
 

 
 
 
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 1 contracting decisions involving the expenditure of state funds
 
 2 unacceptably foster conditions that burden limited social
 
 3 services.  The State, as a principal provider of social support
 
 4 services, has an interest in promoting an employment environment
 
 5 that protects and conserves this finite resource, enhances the
 
 6 quality of family life and individual health for our citizens,
 
 7 and provides a community atmosphere conducive to academic and
 
 8 moral learning for our youth.  By requiring the payment of a
 
 9 higher minimum level of compensation, the legislation promotes
 
10 these interests. 
 
11      In accordance with the foregoing, the legislature declares
 
12 that it shall be the public policy of the State to require that
 
13 nothing less than the living wage should be paid by contractors
 
14 and financial assistance recipients of the state to their
 
15 employees.
 
16      §   -2  Applicability.(a)  This chapter shall apply to
 
17 service and labor contracts which involve an expenditure in
 
18 excess of $20,000; provide services or labor to the State (as
 
19 opposed to the purchase of goods or other property or the leasing
 
20 of property), including the following services:
 
21      (1)  Automotive repair and maintenance;
 
22      (2)  Facility and building maintenance;
 

 
 
 
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 1      (3)  Food services;
 
 2      (4)  Janitorial and custodial;
 
 3      (5)  Landscaping;
 
 4      (6)  Laundry services;
 
 5      (7)  Office and clerical;
 
 6      (8)  Parking lot management;
 
 7      (9)  Pest control;
 
 8     (10)  Recreation services;
 
 9     (11)  Security;
 
10     (12)  Shuttle transportation;
 
11     (13)  Street sweeping;
 
12     (14)  Towing; or
 
13     (15)  Any other service or labor determined by the director
 
14           of labor and industrial relations to meet the intent of
 
15           this chapter.
 
16      (b)  This chapter shall also apply to any state financial
 
17 recipient, excluding any corporation organized under section
 
18 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, who
 
19 receives direct monetary financial assistance from the State in
 
20 an amount of $100,000 or more in any twelve-month period executed
 
21 after the effective date of this Act.  Conformance to this
 
22 chapter shall be required throughout the term of the agreement.
 

 
 
 
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 1      This chapter shall not apply to any person or entity who
 
 2 receives any indirect financial assistance, including but not
 
 3 limited to, tax credits, subsidies or rebates, or bond financing
 
 4 or loans.
 
 5      (c)  Any person shall be deemed a covered employee who is
 
 6 employed by a contractor or subcontractor of the State or a state
 
 7 financial recipient or any subrecipient whose compensation is
 
 8 attributable to the State's financial assistance who:
 
 9      (1)  Is not a person who provides volunteer services that
 
10           are uncompensated except for reimbursement of expenses
 
11           such as meals, parking, or transportation;
 
12      (2)  Expends at least half of the work week on work for the
 
13           State; and
 
14      (3)  Is at least eighteen years of age.
 
15      (d)  The following situations shall be exempted from this
 
16 chapter:
 
17      (1)  Contracts under which federal regulations or state
 
18           rules preclude its applicability;
 
19      (2)  Contracts that involve leases, bond covenants, and the
 
20           like shall be reviewed on a case by case basis;
 
21      (3)  Contracts for professional services for specialized
 
22           skills, including experts, consultants, auditors,
 

 
 
 
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 1           engineers, attorneys, and banking;
 
 2      (4)  Contracts where imposition of the policy is found by
 
 3           the director of labor and industrial relations to cause
 
 4           a hardship to small businesses.
 
 5      §   -3 Payment of minimum compensation to employees.(a)
 
 6 Employers shall pay employees a wage of no less than the hourly
 
 7 rates set under this chapter.  The initial rates shall be $7.25
 
 8 per hour with health benefits, as described in subsection (b), or
 
 9 otherwise $9.50 per hour.  The rates shall be adjusted annually
 
10 in accordance with changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban
 
11 Consumers in the Honolulu Metropolitan Area (United States
 
12 Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics).  Where the
 
13 Honolulu CPI increases by at least one per cent, the minimum
 
14 hourly compensation rate shall be increased by an equal
 
15 percentage, but in no event shall any annual increase exceed the
 
16 prior annual rate by more than five per cent.
 
17      (b)  Health insurance benefits shall consist of the payment
 
18 of at least $1.25 per hour towards family medical insurance for
 
19 employees.  Proof of health insurance benefits must be submitted
 
20 to the State within ten days after execution of the contract or
 
21 receipt of state financial assistance to qualify for the reduced
 
22 hourly wage rate for employees provided with health care
 

 
 
 
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 1 benefits.
 
 2      §   -4 Supersession by collective bargaining agreement.  If
 
 3 parties subject to this chapter provide greater compensation for
 
 4 employees than that provided by this chapter through a collective
 
 5 bargaining agreement, the agreement shall supersede the
 
 6 requirements of this chapter.
 
 7      §   -5 Employee retention requirements.(a)  If any
 
 8 contract subject to this chapter is over the amount of $50,000
 
 9 and provides for the continuation of a service currently provided
 
10 by another contractor, the selected contractor or subcontractor
 
11 will be required to provide for continued employment of employees
 
12 subject to this section.
 
13      A "retention employee" shall be defined as any person
 
14 employed by the predecessor contractor or any subcontractor to
 
15 the predecessor contractor who provides direct labor or service
 
16 on the public contract and is not an "exempt" employee under the
 
17 Fair Labor Standards Act.
 
18      (b)  Employment shall be offered to all qualified retention
 
19 employees.  A "qualified retention employee" is one who has been
 
20 employed for at least the six-month period prior to the date of
 
21 the new contract by the predecessor service contractor or
 
22 subcontractor.  The new service contractor or subcontractor may
 

 
 
 
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 1 deem a retention employee not to be qualified only if the
 
 2 employee has been convicted of a crime that is related to the job
 
 3 or to job performance, or the contractor can demonstrate to the
 
 4 State that the employee presents a significant danger to
 
 5 customers, co-workers, or the State.
 
 6      (c)  The new service contractor or subcontractor may treat
 
 7 any of its current employees as retention employees for purposes
 
 8 of this chapter who, based on payroll records or other reliable
 
 9 evidence can be shown to have been employed for at least the six-
 
10 month period prior to the date of the new contract by the
 
11 contractor or subcontractor, and would otherwise need to be
 
12 terminated as a result of this program.
 
13      (d)  In the event that the service contractor or
 
14 subcontractor does not have enough positions available for all
 
15 qualified retention employees and its current eligible retention
 
16 employees, the service contractor or subcontractor shall hire the
 
17 predecessor contractor's qualified retention employees and retain
 
18 its current employees who are eligible for retention under this
 
19 chapter by seniority within each employment classification.  For
 
20 any positions that become available during the initial ninety-day
 
21 period of the new contract, the service contractor or
 
22 subcontractor shall hire qualified retention employees and rehire
 

 
 
 
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 1 its current employees who are eligible for retention under this
 
 2 chapter by seniority within each employment classification.
 
 3      (e)  Qualified employees of the predecessor contractor may
 
 4 not be discharged without cause during the initial ninety-day
 
 5 period of their employment.
 
 6      Each qualified retention employee who receives a
 
 7 satisfactory performance evaluation at the end of the initial
 
 8 ninety-day period of employment will be offered continued
 
 9 employment under terms and conditions established by the
 
10 contractor or subcontractor for all of its employees.
 
11      §   -6  Retention program.  The State shall provide the
 
12 service contractor or subcontractor with a list of names,
 
13 addresses, dates of hire, and employment classifications for all
 
14 covered employees of the outgoing service contractor or
 
15 subcontractor interested in continued employment. 
 
16      Contracts entered into after the effective date of this Act
 
17 shall obligate the contractor or subcontractor to provide names
 
18 of all qualified retention employees at the end of the contract.
 
19      §   -7  Enforcement.  All service contracts or financial
 
20 assistance agreements to which this chapter applies shall provide
 
21 that if a violation of any provision of this chapter occurs and
 
22 is not corrected after written notice, the State, at its option,
 

 
 
 
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 1 may do any of the following:
 
 2      (1)  Suspend or terminate the contract or financial
 
 3           assistance agreement for cause;
 
 4      (2)  Require the employer to pay any amounts underpaid in
 
 5           violation of the required payments, the State's
 
 6           administrative costs, liquidated damages, and in the
 
 7           case of financial assistance, refund any of the sums
 
 8           disbursed by the State."
 
 9      SECTION 2.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
10 
 
11                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________