STAND. COM. REP. NO.  294-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   H.B. No. 2209

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2209 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify the scope of Hawaii's anti-discrimination law by specifying that employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations may refuse to hire, refer, or discharge workers for reasons other than those protected under sections 378-2, 378-2.3, 378-2.5, and 378-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and the Society for Human Resource Management Hawaii Chapter testified in support of this measure.  The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and the ILWU Local 142 testified in opposition.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2091, to facilitate further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2209, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2209, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair