Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2740, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to extend the amount of time a covered employer must provide written notification of a closing, partial closing, or relocation to its employees and the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations from sixty to ninety days.

This measure also:

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, the ILWU Local 142, and a private citizen.

Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and a private citizen.

Your Committee finds that during these tough economic times, it is crucial that employees be informed at the earliest possible opportunity as to decisions of employers which will adversely affect their employment status and economic security. Under the current law, an employer covered by the Dislocated Workers Law is required to provide employees at least sixty days notice as to impending closures or relocations. Your Committee determines that the provision of thirty additional days of notice to employees will provide invaluable time for these individuals to attempt to secure other employment or make other necessary provisions in light of the closure or relocation.

Additionally, your Committee finds that some covered employers may also provide their employees with housing or housing assistance, which becomes a benefit upon which the employees rely. The termination of the provision of housing or housing assistance can be equally devastating to an employee as a business' closure or relocation. This point is demonstrated by the situation that the residents of the Del Monte housing compound at Poamoho Village are currently experiencing. After providing housing to current and former employees for many years, Del Monte recently decided not to renew its lease of the land at Poamoho Village and informed the sixty families residing therein that they had one hundred twenty days to vacate the premises. Many of these families are working to negotiate with Del Monte to avoid losing their homes and are otherwise struggling to find alternative housing.

Therefore, your Committee determines that although the extension of time by which employees must be notified of the discontinuance or termination of housing cannot help the Poamoho residents, this measure can serve to assist other similarly situated individuals in the future to provide them with ample time to make necessary arrangements and avoid any additional drain on the State's resources. However, your Committee believes that requiring an employer to provide written notification to an employee when a reduction in housing or housing assistance occurs could prove to be overly burdensome. Under this measure, even a one dollar decrease in a housing subsidy provided by the employer would require the provision of six months prior notice, an unreasonable requirement under the circumstances. Your Committee also believes that it should be made clear that a covered employer should not be required to provide an employee with notification of the discontinuance or termination of housing or housing assistance when such is a result of an employee's resignation or termination for cause.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this 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 H.B. No. 2740, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2740, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.