STAND. COM. REP. NO. 387

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1044

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1044 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WAGES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify when the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations shall commence proceedings for penalties for violations of the law relating to the payment of wages and other compensation.

This measure also imposes a fine of not less than $500 for violations and not less than $1000 for wilful or repeat violations of the law.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State AFL-CIO and the Labor Democrats. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee finds that under the current law there is little to deter an employer from violations of the wages and compensation law, as all that is required of an employer who fails to pay wages in accordance with chapter 388, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), is back pay plus interest. Enforcement by the Director is also inadequate, as the Director's ability to seek penalties for violations of chapter 388, HRS, is wholly discretionary. Your Committee believes that stronger penalties are necessary in order not only to punish, but also to deter employers from violating chapter 388, HRS, and by requiring the Director to take appropriate action against violators.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and replacing it with a new section regarding fines, which provides that:

(1) A fine imposed shall be $25 or ten percent of wages due for the first complaint;

(2) A fine imposed shall be not less than $100 or the amount of the wages due for a second complaint within two years of the first; and

(3) A hearing on an appeal of a fine shall be held by a hearings officer in conformance with chapter 91, HRS.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1044, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1044, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair