Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 29, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit an employer from requiring an employee to work for more than eight hours continuously without at least a thirty-minute meal break period, unless a collective bargaining agreement contains an express meal break provision.

This measure also requires employers to allow an employee to express breastmilk during any meal break required by law, a collective bargaining agreement, or voluntarily provided by the employer.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State AFL-CIO and the ILWU Local 142. The Department of Human Resources Development and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission submitted testimony in support of the intent of the measure. Testimony in opposition to the measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Oahu Transit Services, Inc., the Society for Human Resources Management, the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, and Covanta Energy Group, the Hawaii Transportation Association, and American Savings Bank.

Your Committee finds that to permit employees to express breastmilk during a meal period or other break, the Legislature enacted Act 172, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999. Act 172 specified that employees could not be prohibited from expressing breastmilk during any meal or other break required by law. However, neither federal nor state wage and hour laws requires employers to provide employees over the age of sixteen a meal period irrespective of the number of consecutive hours employees work.

Your Committee determines that employees who work more than eight consecutive hours should be provided at least a thirty-minute meal break, which will safeguard the health and safety of employees as well as promote work efficiency and productivity. Additionally, employees should be permitted to express breastmilk during any meal break, as provided within this measure, any collective bargaining agreement, or voluntarily provided by the employer.

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 H.B. No. 29, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.