STAND. COM. REP. NO. 408

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1405

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1405 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEAL BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require employers to provide scheduled meal breaks or rest periods for employees who work more than five consecutive hours.

 

     Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; the Hawaii Transportation Association; and ILWU Local 142.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; The Hawaii Business League; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Ito En (North America) Inc.; and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the intent of this measure is to ensure that employers who employ fifty or more employees allow employees who work a full day or an eight-hour shift to have an adequate period of time to rest and consume a meal.  However, your Committee recognizes the comments raised in testimony by the Hawaii Transportation Association that some employees, such as drivers of commercial vehicles, may not be able to take a rest or meal period for thirty consecutive minutes for logistical reasons.  While your Committee has addressed the specific concern regarding commercial drivers by providing an exemption to the rest period requirement, subsequent committees may wish to consider whether other exemptions are appropriate to address concerns raised by The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii in its testimony.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Authorizing an exemption for the employers of commercial drivers;

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion of this measure and any other potential exemptions; and

 

     (3)  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 and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1405, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1405, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair