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. 449, S.D. 2, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to strengthen the State's Whistleblowers' Protection Act. More specifically, this bill increases the penalties for violations, extending the duration of the statute of limitations, and provides remedies to employees who have not been adequately protected under part III of section 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to unlawful suspension or discharge.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, ILWU Local 142, Common Cause Hawaii, National Employment Lawyers Association, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii Nurses' Association, and an individual submitted testimony in support of this bill. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management, and an individual submitted testimony in opposition to this bill. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and an individual submitted comments on this bill.

Your Committee finds that it is important that employees be encouraged to report violations of law that occur in the workplace. It is in the public interest to strengthen the Whistleblowers' Protection Act to assist employees in coming forward who might otherwise fear retaliatory discharge or other consequences for doing the right thing.

Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its substance and inserting provisions allowing a person who alleges a violation to bring a civil action within 180 after the occurrence of the alleged violation.

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. 449, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 449, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.