REPORT TITLE:
Labor


DESCRIPTION:
Requires employers to provide meal breaks after five hours of
work.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2171 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO MEAL BREAKS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that although Act 172,
 
 2 Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, amended the law to make it illegal
 
 3 for an employer to prohibit an employee from expressing
 
 4 breastmilk during any meal period or other break period required
 
 5 by law, neither state nor federal wage and hour laws currently
 
 6 require employers to provide employees over the age of sixteen
 
 7 any meal period or rest break no matter how many consecutive
 
 8 hours they may be required to work.  Employees who must work a
 
 9 full day or eight-hour shift or more regardless of age or sex
 
10 should not be denied a reasonable period of time to rest and
 
11 consume a meal as is commonly required by other states such as
 
12 California, Oregon, and Washington.
 
13      The purpose of this Act is to ensure that employees working
 
14 more than five consecutive hours shall be provided with at least
 
15 a half hour rest or meal period or its equivalent in overtime
 
16 pay.
 
17      SECTION 2.  Chapter 387, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
18 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
19 read as follows:
 

 
Page 2                                                     2171 
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      "§387-     Meal breaks.  No employee shall be required to
 
 2 work more than five hours continuously without an interval of at
 
 3 least thirty consecutive minutes for a rest or meal period,
 
 4 unless a collective bargaining agreement expressly provides the
 
 5 employee a choice between accepting the break or overtime pay for
 
 6 work performed during the break."
 
 7      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 8      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 9 
 
10                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________