Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1305, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit an employer from discriminating between employees on the basis of gender through the payment of wages to an employee at a rate less than that at which an employee of the opposite sex is paid for equal work, with certain exceptions.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and one individual. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Comments on the measure were also submitted by the Department of Human Resources Development.

Your Committee finds that under the current law, an employer is prohibited from discriminating against an employee on the basis of gender regarding compensation or in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Additionally, further protection against the same and related types of discrimination based upon sex is provided for under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. §206(d). Despite the existence of these prohibitions, currently in Hawaii wage disparity continues to exist where a woman earns only eighty-four cents for each dollar earned by a man. The effect of such a wage disparity negatively impacts the financial security, health, and well-being of women and families; contributes to the existence of depressed wages, reductions in standards of living, and increases in poverty rates; prevents the maximum utilization of available labor resources; and increases the number of labor disputes.

Your Committee believes that the passage of this measure will signify the State's recognition that discrimination on the basis of gender with regard to the payment of wages continues to exist within the State. However, it is not the intent of the Legislature to affect or diminish existing, broader protections of part I of chapter 378, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

In further recognition of this problem, your Committee finds that the establishment of a task force to review information relevant to gender-based pay inequities and make recommendations to the Legislature for specific actions to correct such inequities will also reaffirm and solidify the State's commitment to ensuring that such discriminatory practices are finally eliminated.

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. 1305, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Ways and Means.