REPORT TITLE:
Labor


DESCRIPTION:
Requires employers to provide meal breaks after six hours of
work.  (HB2171 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2171
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
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, made it illegal for an employer to
 
 3 prohibit an employee from expressing breastmilk during any meal
 
 4 period or other break period required by law, neither state nor
 
 5 federal wage and hour laws currently require employers to provide
 
 6 employees over the age of sixteen any meal period or rest break
 
 7 no matter how many consecutive hours they may be required to
 
 8 work.  Employees who must work a full day or eight-hour shift or
 
 9 more regardless of age or sex should not be denied a reasonable
 
10 period of time to rest and consume a meal as is commonly required
 
11 by other states such as California, Oregon, and Washington.
 
12      The purpose of this Act is to ensure that employees working
 
13 six or more consecutive hours be provided with at least one
 
14 thirty minute break or two breaks of at least fifteen consecutive
 
15 minutes.
 
16      SECTION 2.  Chapter 387, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
17 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
18 read as follows:
 
19      "§387-     Meal breaks.  (a)  No employee working six or
 
20 more consecutive hours shall be required to work continuously
 

 
Page 2                                                     2171
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 without an interval of at least thirty consecutive minutes or two
 
 2 periods of at least fifteen consecutive minutes each for a meal
 
 3 scheduled sometime within that shift, unless a collective
 
 4 bargaining agreement or company policy otherwise contains express
 
 5 provisions for these employee breaks.  These meal breaks may also
 
 6 be used as rest breaks.
 
 7      (b)  This section shall not apply to employees with duties
 
 8 that entail providing health, transportation, or public safety
 
 9 services."
 
10      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
11      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.