Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 338 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require an employer to at least provide a rest or meal break period of 30 consecutive minutes after an employee works continuously for five or more hours, unless a collective bargaining agreement expressly provides for meal breaks.

The Department of Education, United Public Workers, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Oahu County Committee of the Hawaii Democratic Party, and several concerned individuals submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Hawaii Transportation Association supported the intent of the measure, but expressed their concerns. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Covanta Energy Group, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Society for Human Resources Management – Hawaii Chapter, and the Hawaii Business League testified in opposition to this bill. The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission informed the Committee that it could not offer any comment on this measure at this time.

Although the provision of meal or rest breaks is a common practice of employers, your Committee finds that neither Hawaii state nor federal wage and hour laws currently require employers to provide employees over the age of 16 with any meal break, regardless of how many consecutive hours the employees may be required to work.

The provision of meal and rest breaks has garnered national attention. In fact, many other states, including California and New York, currently have laws that require employers to provide a meal break to employees who work between five- and eight-hour work shifts. Collective bargaining agreements also often require meal breaks for covered employees. Your Committee believes that an employee whose job requires at least five or more continuous hours of work should be granted a reasonable period of time to rest or consume a meal during the work shift.

However, your Committee understands the concerns raised by opponents of the measure that the variability of job demands in certain industries may require that breaks not be given for a continuous, uninterrupted period of time since some employees need to "eat on the run." Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 338, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 338, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.