Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 28 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide employees with more time to plan for their future employment by increasing from 45 to 90 days the advance notification time period that an employer must provide prior to implementing a closure, partial closure, or relocation of a business.

The Hawaii State AFL-CIO and ILWU Local 142 testified in support of this measure. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations opposed passage of this bill.

Your Committee finds that federal law requires a 60-day notification period for large plant closings or substantial layoffs. The Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) law requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 days advance written notice before a business closes down or lays off:

(1) At least one-third of the employees; and

(2) At least 50 employees.

To conform to this federal standard, your Committee has amended this bill by reducing the notification period from 90 days to 60 days.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 28, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 28, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.