Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2037 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to strengthen the protection provided by Hawaii's Whistleblowers' Protection Act.

Testimony in support of the measure was received from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, the Hawaii Nurses' Association, the ILWU Local 142, Common Cause Hawaii, the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and a private citizen. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Hawaii Government Employees Association supported the strengthening of the Whistleblowers' Protection Act, but opposed the repeal of Part III of Chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the unlawful suspension or discharge of an employee. The Society of Human Resource Management – Hawaii Chapter, the Hawaii Bankers Association, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and HMSA testified in opposition to the measure.

Your Committee finds that although the measure does repeal Part III of Chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the unlawful suspension or discharge of an employee, it incorporates most of the pertinent provisions into Part V of Chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which is the Whistleblowers' Protection Act.

Your Committee also finds that the measure strengthens the Whistleblowers' Protection Act by providing protection to employees who report to government entities or their employers violations of law or who report information demonstrating danger to the public health, safety, and welfare. The measure also increases the penalties for violations from $500 to $10,000 per violation, increases the duration of the statute of limitations from ninety days to two years, and provides remedies to employees who were not adequately protected under Part III of Chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

In light of the concerns that were presented in testimony over the adverse ramifications of repealing Part III of Chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes, your Committee has amended the measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2037, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2037, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.