Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2025, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit employers from paying disparate wages based on gender to employees who perform the same work, except when the disparity is based on a seniority system, merit system, system that measures earnings based on quantity or quality of production, bona fide occupational qualification, or any other factor other than sex.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, and a concerned citizen testified in support of this bill. The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission supported the intent of this measure and offered comments. The Society for Human Resource Management and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii opposed this bill. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations initially submitted written comments but during the hearing raised concerns over certain parts of this measure.

Your Committee fully supports the intent of this measure to bring equality in pay for women. However, your Committee also notes that gender discrimination is already prohibited under the general provisions of chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and pay disparity based on gender is prohibited under section

387-4, HRS. This bill as received is specifically designed to enact the substance of the federal Equal Pay Act into Hawaii law while providing a tort remedy for violations in the same manner as provided for other discriminatory practices under chapter 378, HRS.

Your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its contents and replacing it with nearly exact language from the federal Equal Pay Act (29 U.S.C. §206(d)), except for the term "because of sex", which is specifically defined in section 378-1, HRS. Nothing in this bill is intended to diminish the other remedies available to employees under chapter 378, HRS, for sex discrimination.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2025, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2025, H.D. 2.