STAND. COM. REP. NO. 722

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1122

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1122 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WAGE AND HOUR LAW,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the amount of guaranteed monthly compensation required to exempt an individual from minimum wage, overtime, and record keeping requirements under the Hawaii Wage and Hour Law.

 

     Specifically, the measure repeals the $2,000 threshold to be excluded from the application of the State's Wage and Hour Law and replaces the fixed monetary amount with a formula based on the monthly minimum of the amount of minimum wage multiplied by 276.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and one individual.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Wage and Hour Law protects existing minimum wage and maximum hour standards for the health and general well-being of workers.  However, a worker is excluded from those wage and hour requirements if the worker is guaranteed a fixed amount of $2,000 or more per month.  Because of this exemption, employers may schedule individuals to work unlimited hours without being required to pay overtime compensation, as long as the individual is guaranteed a fixed amount of $2,000 or more per month.  Your Committee further finds that the minimum wage will increase three times over the next three years.  Your Committee believes that this measure will maintain a consistent wage proportion to the minimum wage increase because it uses a multiplier mechanism rather than a fixed amount to keep the minimum guaranteed compensation on par with increases in the minimum wage. 

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1122 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair