STAND. COM. REP. NO. 909

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1454

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1454 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE WAGE AND HOUR LAW,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to issue an order of wage payment violation to the employer found to be in violation of wage and hour provisions;

(2) Establish penalties, enforcement, and appeal procedures; and

(3) Amend the definition of "wage" to include compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee finds that existing law allows the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to issue orders of wage payment violations and assess penalties against employers for violations regarding payment of wages, wage theft, and other compensation. While this enforcement mechanism can assist the Department in ensuring equitable wages, this mechanism cannot be used for issues regarding violations of minimum wage or overtime requirements. Therefore, by standardizing this enforcement mechanism to broadly apply to minimum wage and overtime violations, this measure will allow the Department to effectively protect employees and safeguard rights for just compensation.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1454, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1454, S.D. 1.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair