STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2290
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2006
RE: S.B. No. 3050
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2006
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 3050 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYER INTIMIDATION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to prohibit an employer from coercing employees into attending employer-sponsored meetings to communicate the employer's religious or political opinions.
Specifically, this measure:
(1) Prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or participate in communications with the employer, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion about religious or political matters;
(2) Excludes communications that an employer is required by law to communicate;
(3) Excludes communications of religious organizations, political organizations, and educational institutions, when the content of the communications directly relates to the organization's business or purpose;
(4) Provides an employee with protection from retaliation by an employer for making a good faith report of a violation of the law; and
(5) Establishes legal remedies, including reinstatement, payment of back pay, reinstitution of employee benefits, treble damages, and attorney's fees and costs.
Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the ILWU Local 142; the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; the Hawaii State AFL-CIO; the IBEW Local 1186; the IBEW Local 1260; the IBEW Local 1357; and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Society for Human Resource Management – Hawaii Chapter. Comments on the measure were also submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Department of Human Resources Development, the Department of the Attorney General, and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.
Your Committee finds that in this country each individual is promised religious and political liberty, freedoms upon which this nation was founded. Unfortunately, employers seeking to impart their own religious or political beliefs to their employees in the workplace are infringing upon these freedoms. Your Committee further finds that the problem seems to be an increasing phenomenon with employers utilizing the workplace as a forum for partisan politics and proselytizing, including the introduction of threats regarding union issues. Current protections under the law are inadequate to protect employees from this type of coercive behavior. Your Committee does not believe that an employer's ability to conduct its business will be hampered by this measure. At the same time, your Committee recognizes the need to allow certain types of employers the ability to engage in activity promoting or opposing political or religious viewpoints, as such is essential to their businesses.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Including language to indicate that the new chapter shall have no effect on chapter 368, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), or part I of chapter 378, HRS, and claims or complaints made thereunder; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes to reflect proper and preferred drafting style and to provide further clarity.
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 S.B. No. 3050, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3050, 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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