STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2045

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2383

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2383 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISLOCATED WORKERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to exercise enforcement powers against an employer in a covered establishment in matters relating to the notification and penalty provisions of section 394B-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by three private organizations.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that with the current economic recession facing the State, many employers in a covered establishment are separating from or closing their business without complying with the requirements of section 394B-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  Your Committee also finds that providing the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations with notification and penalty enforcement powers will provide affected employees with an alternative means to filing a grievance against their former employer in a covered establishment.

     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. 2383 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair