Report Title:

Sick Leave

 

Description:

Requires an employer who provides sick leave to permit an employee to use their sick leave to attend to the illness of their child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary. Prohibits an employer from denying the use of sick leave, discharging, demoting, suspending, or discriminating in the terms and conditions of employment against an employee for using or attempting to exercise the right to use sick leave to attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary. (HD1)

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

850

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to sick leave.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that existing law does not require an employer to permit an employee to use sick leave to attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary.

The purpose of this Act is to permit an employee to use any accrued sick leave to care for a child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary.

SECTION 2. Chapter 398, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§398- Sick leave. (a) An employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use, in any calendar year, the employee's accrued and available sick leave to attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary of the employee. The same conditions and restrictions applying to sick leave by the employer shall also apply to sick leave taken by an employee pursuant to this section.

(b) No employer shall deny an employee the right to use sick leave, discharge, or threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate against an employee for exercising the employee's right to use sick leave to attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary.

(c) This section shall not decrease the maximum period of family leave an employee is entitled to under this chapter.

(d) As used in this section:

"Employee" means any person who performs services for hire.

"Employer" means any individual or organization, including the State, any of its political subdivisions, any instrumentality of the State, county, or any political subdivisions, who employs employees for hire.

"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; and

(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, or benefit not payable from the employer."

SECTION 2. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.