STAND. COM. REP. NO.1129
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 385
H.D. 2
S.D. 1
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. 385, H.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PREVENTION OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to allow an employer, whose employee has been subjected to harassment at the worksite, to petition the district court for a temporary restraining order and an injunction from further harassment at the worksite.
The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse Legal Hotline, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and the Hawaii Hotel Association submitted testimony in support of this measure.
The Department of Human Resources Development submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure with reservations. The Department of Education submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure with recommendations for amendments. The Office of the Public Defender and the ILWU Local 142 submitted testimony in opposition to this measure.
Existing law allows victims to petition the court for an order to temporarily restrain harassment that occurs anywhere. This measure allows employers to similarly petition the court for an order to temporarily restrain harassment of an employee at the worksite to promote and preserve workplace safety. Your Committee finds that incidents of harassment at the worksite directed against a worker are not uncommon. Sometimes, the harassment can involve violence, placing other employees at risk of injury. This measure provides employers a measure of protection in the workplace.
Your Committee has amended this measure by replacing its contents with the contents of S.B. No. 921 S.D. 2, which are substantively similar, except for the changes as follows:
(1) Amending an existing statute (section 604-10.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes) instead of creating a new section for the issuance of worksite temporary restraining orders;
(2) Deleting the reference to the specific factors to be considered by the district court in exercising its discretion with regard to the scope of the temporary restraining order, which includes the need to extend protections to the employee's residence and family or household members;
(3) Deleting the requirement in subsection (c) that an affidavit or statement accompanying a petition for an ex parte temporary restraining order include facts relating to the respondent's employment status, actions taken by the employer to resolve disputes between co-employees or with the employer prior to seeking the restraining order, and the employer's inability to reasonably prevent further acts or threats of violence or harassment from occurring without a restraining order;
(4) Deleting the contents of subsection (l) which clarified the scope of the effect of the section;
(5) Deleting the contents of subsection (m) which clarified the limitation on an employer's liability under the section;
(6) Deleting the contents of subsection (n) which clarified the limitation on an employee's or witness' liability under the section; and
(7) Deleting the definitions for "credible threat of violence", "employment", "family or household members", "petitioner", "respondent", "served", "violence", and "workplace".
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. 385, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 385, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,
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____________________________ BRIAN KANNO, Chair |
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