Report Title:

Family Leave; Temporary Disability Insurance

Description:

Provides coverage for unpaid family leave under temporary disability insurance paid for entirely by employees.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2655

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO TEMPORARY DISABILITY INSURANCE.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that workers who take unpaid family leave may drain their financial resources in the process, resulting in a reluctance by many workers to take family leave. The legislature further finds that unpaid family leave abrogates the purpose of family leave, simply because workers cannot afford to take family leave beyond paid leave.

The purpose of this Act is to provide temporary disability insurance benefits for workers to compensate them during the period of unpaid family leave.

SECTION 2. Chapter 392, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§392- Temporary disability benefits during period of unpaid family leave. (a) An employee who takes family leave under chapter 398, without regard to the number of employees of the employer, shall receive temporary disability insurance benefits for the period of time that the family leave consists of unpaid leave under section 398-4; provided that the cost of benefits under subsection (a) shall be paid entirely by employee contributions under section 392-43.

(b) An employee receiving benefits under subsection (a) shall be exempt from sections 392-24, 392-26, and 392-27; provided that certification under section 398-6 shall be required.

(c) Notwithstanding the definition of a disability under section 392-1, for purposes of this section a disability means a situation as described in section 398-3(a)."

SECTION 3. Section 392-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) Subject to the limitation set forth in subsection (b) an employer may deduct and withhold contributions, from each employee of one-half the cost but not more than .5 per cent of the weekly wages earned by the employee in employment and the employer shall provide for the balance of the cost of providing temporary disability benefits under this chapter over the amount of contributions of the employer's employees. Unless a different rule is prescribed by regulation of the director, the withholding period shall be equal to the pay period of the respective employee.

In addition, for the purpose of funding family leave benefits under section 392- , the employer shall deduct from the weekly wages of each employee the entire cost of funding those benefits."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) The contributions of the employees deducted and withheld from their wages by their employer shall be held in a separate fund or be paid to insurance carriers as premiums, for the purpose of providing benefits required by this chapter[.]; provided that the contribution of the employee for family leave benefits as deducted and withheld from the employee's wage under subsection (a) shall be accounted for separately by the employer and reflected in each paycheck of the employee."

SECTION 4. Section 398-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "sick leave" to read as follows:

""Sick leave" means accrued increments of compensated leave provided by an employer to an employee for use by the employee for any of the following reasons:

(1) The employee is physically or mentally unable to perform the employee's duties due to illness, injury, or a medical condition of the employee;

(2) The absence is for the purpose of obtaining professional diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition of the employee; or

(3) The absence is for other medical reasons of the employee, such as pregnancy or obtaining a physical examination.

"Sick leave" does not include any benefit provided under an employee welfare benefit plan subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and does not include any insurance benefit, workers' compensation benefit, unemployment compensation disability benefit, temporary disability insurance benefit[,] under section 392- , or benefit not payable from the employer."

SECTION 5. Section 398-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§398-4 Unpaid leave permitted; relationship to paid leave; sick leave[.]; temporary disability benefits. (a) Pursuant to section 398-3, an employee shall be entitled to four weeks of family leave. The family leave shall consist of unpaid leave, paid leave, or a combination of paid and unpaid leave. If an employer provides paid family leave for fewer than four weeks, the additional period of leave added to attain the four-week total may be unpaid.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), an employee or employer may elect to substitute any of the employee's accrued paid leaves, including but not limited to vacation, personal, or family leave for any part of the four-week period in subsection (a).

(c) An employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use the employee's accrued and available sick leave for purposes of this chapter; provided that an employee shall not use more than ten days per year for this purpose unless an express provision of a valid collective bargaining agreement authorizes the use of more than ten days of sick leave for family leave purposes. Nothing in this section shall require an employer to diminish an employee's accrued and available sick leave below the amount required pursuant to section 392-41.

(d) An employee shall be eligible for temporary disability insurance benefits under section 392- for the period of time that the family leave consists of unpaid leave under this section."

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004.

INTRODUCED BY:

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