STAND. COM. REP. NO. 198

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1454

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. 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 orders of wage payment violation to employers it finds to be in violation of chapter 387, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the State's Wage and Hour Law;

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

(3) Amend the definition of "wage" in the State's Wage and Hour Law to clarify that it means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, regardless of how it is calculated.

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

Your Committee finds that chapter 388, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which is the state law that governs payment of wages and other compensation, including wage theft, has an enforcement mechanism by which the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations may issue orders of wage payment violations and assess penalties against employers in violation. However, this enforcement mechanism is not available for chapter 387, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the state law governing minimum wage and overtime compensation. Therefore, when an investigation of a wage theft claim against an employer reveals a violation of minimum wage or overtime requirements, the Department is precluded from issuing an order of wage payment violation for those violations. To allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to effectively enforce laws that protect employees' right to receive just compensation, this measure streamlines and standardizes the enforcement mechanisms between chapters 387 and 388, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

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. 1454 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair