HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

409

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO LABOR.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  Chapter 388, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding five new sections to part I to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§388-A  Enforcement; staff.  The director shall enforce the provisions of this chapter.  The director may employ investigators, clerks, interpreters, and other employees as necessary and may assign any employee of the department to assist in the enforcement of this chapter.

     §388-B  Stop-work order; failure to observe; penalties.  An employer or employer representative who fails to observe a stop-work order issued and served upon the employer pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not exceeding sixty days or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.  Both the employer and employer representative who directed employees to work in violation of the stop-work order shall be held in violation of this section.  The director may obtain injunctive and other relief from the circuit court to enforce the provisions of this chapter.  The stop-work order shall be effective immediately upon service of the order.

     §388-C  Stop-work order; withdrawal; penalties remitted.  The director has the discretion to withdraw a stop-work order or remit all or any part of a penalty if good cause is shown; provided the employer in default complies with this chapter.

§388-D  Enforcement; recovery of attorneys' fees and costs.  The court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to the department in an action brought by the department to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including injunctive and other relief from the courts to carry out the purpose of this chapter.

§388-E  Stop-work order; protest.  An employer may protest a stop-work order by filing a written request for a hearing with the director or the director's designee within twenty days of the date of service of the stop-work order.  The hearing shall be held within five days from the date of filing the request.  The director or the director's designee shall notify the employer of the time and place of the hearing by mail.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the stop-work order may be affirmed or dismissed, and within twenty-four hours after the hearing, the director or the director's designee shall issue their decision in writing to all parties by registered or certified mail."

     SECTION 2.  Section 388-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§388-10  Penalties.  (a)  Civil.  Any employer who fails to pay wages in accordance with this chapter without equitable justification shall be liable to the employee, in addition to the wages legally proven to be due, for a sum equal to the amount of unpaid wages and interest at a rate of six per cent per year from the date that the wages were due.

     (b)  Criminal.  Any employer who does not pay the wages of any of the employer's employees in accordance with this chapter, or any officer of any corporation who knowingly permits the corporation to violate this chapter by failing to pay wages of any of its employees in accordance with this chapter, or any employer or the employer's agent or any officer or agent of a corporation who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because the employee has made a complaint to the employee's employer, or to the director, or to any other person that the employee has not been paid wages in accordance with this chapter, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceedings, or any employer who wilfully fails to comply with any other requirements of this chapter shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or punished by both fine and imprisonment for each such offense.

     (c)  In addition to any other penalties provided by this chapter, an employer conducting business in violation of this chapter may be subject to a stop-work order issued under section 388-B.  The director or the director's designee, in addition to any other administrative remedy, may issue and serve the employer an order to stop work prohibiting the use of employee labor by the employer until the employer is in compliance with this chapter; provided that the stop-work order does not compromise or imperil public safety, or the life, health, and care of vulnerable individuals.  The stop-work order shall also prohibit the employer from continuing to provide services by conducting business using the labor from another business, contractor, or subcontractor. 

     An employee affected by a work stoppage shall be paid by the employer for time lost during the work stoppage, the payment of which shall not exceed ten days, pending compliance by the employer."

     SECTION 3.  In codifying the new sections added by section 1 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Stop-Work Orders; Enforcement

 

Description:

Authorizes the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations or the Director's designee to issue a stop-work order to an employer, until the employer complies with Chapter 388, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the payment of wages and other compensation.

 

 

 

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