Bill Text: HI HB2126 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Employment; Labor; Family Leave; Sick Leave; Service Workers

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-27 - Referred to LAB, JUD, FIN, referral sheet 2 [HB2126 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HB2126-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2126
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Hawaii's working families are not adequately supported during times of caregiving and illness.  While the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 allows twelve weeks of unpaid leave to employees who have worked at a business that employs fifty or more employees, the majority of Hawaii's workforce cannot afford to take unpaid leave to provide care to a newborn, bond with a new child, or care for a family member with a serious health condition.  The legislature finds that the Hawaii family leave law further restricts eligibility by extending four weeks of unpaid leave only to those employees who work at a business with more than one hundred employees.

     The legislature further finds that only eleven per cent of workers in the United States have access to paid family leave through their employers.  Approximately 247,000 people in Hawaii serve as family caregivers.  Hawaii has the fastest growing population of persons sixty-five years old and above in the nation, which is expected to grow by eighty-one per cent by the year 2030.  Of those who need leave but cannot take it, nearly one in three need leave to care for an ill spouse or parent.  Women, as primary caregivers of infants, children, and elderly parents, are affected disproportionately by the unavailability of paid family and medical leave.

     The legislature further finds that requiring paid sick leave, even in a modest fashion, will provide additional support for caregivers.

     The legislature further finds that paid sick leave does not currently extend to most part-time food service workers.  This measure only affects large companies with      or more employees.  Employers who already offer sick leave benefits, including those with more generous sick leave benefit plans, are unaffected by this measure.

     The purpose of this Act is to provide paid sick leave for service workers, which may be used for caregiving purposes.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 388, part I, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§388-    Paid sick leave; service workers.  (a)  As used in this section:

     "Child" means an individual who is:

     (1)  Less than eighteen years of age and is:

         (A)  A biological, adopted, foster, or step-child of a service worker;

         (B)  A legal ward of a service worker; or

         (C)  An individual for whom a service worker stands in loco parentis; or

     (2)  Eighteen years of age or older and is:

         (A)  Incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability; and

         (B)  An individual for whom a service worker stands in loco parentis.

     "Day or temporary worker" means:

     (1)  An individual who works for another person for less than twenty hours per week, except for an individual who works for a food establishment; or

     (2)  An individual who works:

         (A)  On a per diem basis; or

         (B)  As an occasional or irregular basis for only the time required to complete such work, whether the individual is paid by the person for whom work is performed or by an employment agency, as defined in section 373-1.

     "Employer" has the same meaning as in section 388-1, but shall refer to employers who employ       or more individuals in the State in any one quarter in the previous year, which shall be determined on January 1, annually.  The term "employer" excludes any nationally chartered organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, that provides recreation, child care, or education services.

     "Family violence" has the same meaning as in section 571-2.

     "Food establishment" means:

     (1)  Any place or portion thereof maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of storing, preparing, serving, manufacturing, packaging, transporting, or otherwise handling food at the retail or wholesale level;

     (2)  Any place used for cleaning food equipment or utensils in support of another food establishment; or

     (3)  Any operation that is conducted in, or in conjunction with, a mobile, stationary, temporary, or permanent facility or location where food is served or provided to the public, with or without charge, regardless of whether the food is consumed on or off the premises.

     "Service worker" means an employee, including an employee of a food establishment, excluding a day or temporary worker, who is paid on an hourly basis, or is not exempt from the minimum wage and overtime compensation requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended.

     "Sexual assault" means any sexual offense under part V of chapter 707.

     "Spouse" means a person who is lawfully married to another person under the laws of the State or is in a civil union.

     (b)  An employer shall provide paid sick leave annually to each of the employer's service workers.  The paid sick leave shall be earned, beginning January 1, 2017, or the date thereafter upon which the service worker commences employment, as follows:

     (1)  At a rate of at least one hour of paid sick leave for each forty hours actually worked; and

     (2)  In one-hour increments up to a maximum of forty hours per calendar year.

A service worker shall be entitled to carry over up to forty unused earned hours of paid sick leave from the current calendar year to the following calendar year; provided that no service worker shall be entitled to carry over more than an aggregate of eighty hours of earned sick leave.

     (c)  A service worker shall be entitled to the use of earned paid sick leave, as follows:

     (1)  If the service worker was hired before January 1, 2017, upon the completion of the six-hundred-eightieth hour of employment from January 1, 2017; or

     (2)  If the service worker was hired on or after January 1, 2017, upon the completion of the service worker's six‑hundred-eightieth hour of employment from the date of hire, unless the employer agrees to an earlier date.

A service worker shall not be entitled to the use of earned paid sick leave if the service worker did not work an average of ten or more hours a week for the employer in the most recent complete calendar quarter.

     (d)  An employer shall be deemed to be in compliance with this section if:

     (1)  The employer offers any sick leave or other paid leave, or combination of other paid leave, that may be used for the purpose of subsection (g); and is earned at the greater rate described in subsection (b); or

     (2)  The employer has a sick leave policy approved by the director.

For the purposes of this subsection, "other paid leave" may include paid vacation, personal days, or paid time off.

     (e)  An employer shall pay each service worker for paid sick leave at a pay rate equal to the greater of either the normal hourly wage for that service worker, or the minimum wage under section 387-2 for the pay period during which the employee used paid sick leave.  For any service worker whose hourly wage varies depending on the work performed by the service worker, the "normal hourly wage" shall mean the average hourly wage of the service worker in the pay period prior to the one in which the service worker used paid sick leave.

     (f)  Upon the mutual consent of the service worker and employer, a service worker who chooses to work additional hours or shifts during the same or following pay period, in lieu of hours or shifts missed, shall not use earned paid sick leave.

     (g)  An employer shall permit a service worker to use the paid sick leave earned under this section for the following purposes:

     (1)  For a service worker's:

         (A)  Illness, injury, or health condition;

         (B)  The medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental illness or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or

         (C)  Preventative medical care; or

     (2)  For a service worker's child's or spouse's:

         (A)  Illness, injury, or health condition;

         (B)  The medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or

         (C)  Preventative medical care.

     (h)  If a service worker is a victim of family violence or sexual assault, an employer shall permit that service worker to use the paid sick leave earned under this section for the following purposes:

     (1)  For medical care or psychological or other counseling for physical or psychological injury or disability;

     (2)  To obtain services from a victim services organization;

     (3)  To relocate due to the family violence or sexual assault; or

     (4)  To participate in any civil or criminal proceedings related to or resulting from the family violence or sexual assault.

     (i)  Unless an employee policy or collective bargaining agreement provides for the payment of earned fringe benefits upon termination, no service worker shall be entitled to payment of unused earned sick leave under this section upon termination of employment.

     (j)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to:

     (1)  Prevent employers from providing more paid sick leave than is required under this section;

     (2)  Diminish any rights provided to any employee or service worker under a collective bargaining agreement; or

     (3)  Preempt or override the terms of any collective bargaining agreement effective before January 1, 2017.

     (k)  A termination of a service worker's employment by an employer shall constitute a break in employment.  If that service worker is subsequently rehired by the employer following a break in employment, the service worker shall:

     (1)  Begin to earn sick leave in accordance with this section; and

     (2)  Not be entitled to any unused hours of paid sick leave that had been earned prior to the service worker's break in service unless agreed to by the employer.

     (l)  An employer shall provide notice to each service worker of the following information:

     (1)  The entitlement to sick leave for service workers, the amount of sick leave provided to service workers, and the terms under which sick leave may be used; and

     (2)  That the service worker has a right to file a complaint with the department of labor and industrial relations for suspected violations of this section by the employer.

Employers may comply with this section by displaying a poster that contains the information required by this subsection and that is posted in a conspicuous place, accessible to service workers, at the employer's place of business."

     SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2017.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Employment; Labor; Family Leave; Sick Leave; Service Workers

 

Description:

Requires certain employers with an unspecified number of employees to provide sick leave to service workers for specified purposes under certain conditions.  Defines the terms "service worker" and "employer".  Effective 1/1/17.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.