STAND. COM. REP. NO. 355

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1660

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 Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1660 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require employers in the hospitality industry to implement anti-harassment measures for the protection of their workers, including annual training, equipping various workers with panic buttons, providing a list of resources such as contact information for government and agencies and advocacy groups, and displaying a notice of an employee's right, legal protections provided, and how to report violations;

(2) Prohibit retaliation against a hospitality worker who files a complaint, uses the provided panic button, or participates in an investigation or proceeding related to a harassment complaint;

(3) Require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to adopt rules, including rules determining penalties and establishing procedures for handling complaints; and

(4) Require all hospitality employers to comply with the requirements of this measure no later than January 1, 2026.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and Pride at Work-Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee finds that hospitality workers are often uniquely vulnerable to harassment and sexual violence because of the isolated nature of their work. Given tourism's vital role in the State's economy, protecting the hospitality workforce to improve retention and maintain staffing is especially critical. Other states, such as Washington, have found success reducing violations by instituting more comprehensive anti-harassment legislation. This measure mirrors those remedies by establishing stronger anti-harassment training, protections, procedures, and penalties for the protection of workers in the State's hospitality industry.

Your Committee notes the request from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women that the required training and resources proposed in this measure also include contact information for statewide hotlines and that the notices be displayed in other languages as appropriate to best inform and protect hospitality employees.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Including the contact information for certain support service providers in the required material for the annual training and resource list;

(2) Inserting language requiring notices to be posted in any language that the employers deem necessary;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) 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 Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1660, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1660, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________

HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair