The Wage Standards Division (“Division”) protects Hawaii’s
workers by administering and enforcing
six different labor laws related to wages in the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes
(HRS). The laws operate to keep young workers safe in the workplace (Child Labor Law,
Chapter 390, HRS);
ensure employees are paid their wages due, (Wage and Hour Law,
Chapter 387, HRS;
Payment of Wages and
Other Compensation, Chapter 388, HRS; Wages and Hours of
Employees on Public Works, Chapter104, HRS) and provide job protection when
family members need care or an employee is fired or discriminated against
because of a lie detector test, a workers compensation injury, or taking an
on-site drug test. (Hawaii Family Leave
Law, Chapter 398, HRS,
Employment Practices Law, Part II – Lie
Detector Test
and Part III – Unlawful
Suspension or Discharge.)
·
The general-funded Division remains
without a full staff contributing to a backlog of 341 cases that translates to
more than a two year back-log of work.
·
A significant shift in the case work
in the Division is away from serving a higher number of low income workers to
serving more laborers and mechanics working on public works jobs. The average claim has tripled from $973 to
$3,176 per employee, and the number of employees served annually has decreased
from 574 to 231 since 2009.
·
Two pending appeals, one at the ICA,
(BCI Coca Cola Bottling Co. Inc. v DLIR, ICA CAAP 14-1135), by the DLIR from
the Circuit Court reversal of DLIR’s finding of a wrongful termination due to a
workers compensation injury, and one at the Circuit Court (Pacific Isles
Equipment Rental, Inc. v DLIR, 1CC12-1-3053) determining the standard for state
of mind on falsification of records under the Chapter 104 law for
suspension, have the potential to change
processes in the Division. We are
proceeding status quo until their resolution.
SUCCESSES
The
Compliance Branch resolved 435 complaints including issuing 4 Notice of
Violations to contractors on public works projects who had violated the
prevailing wage law under Chapter 104, HRS, and ordered 3-year suspensions of 2
contractors for falsification of certified payrolls. A full list of suspended contractors is
available on WSD website.
The
Compliance Branch identified $646,329 back wages found due for 231 workers.
Penalties due to the State were $41,170 and penalties due to claimants totaled
$44,404. The Hearings Branch disposed of 65 unlawful termination claims and
resolved two Chapter 104 appeals.
The
Intake and Certification Branch (ICB) took in 587 complaints against employers
that were referred to either the Hearings Branch or Compliance Branch.
The
ICB also issued 10,298 child labor permits, including 89 variances and
addendums required for productions like “Hawaii Five-0”, and other commercial
productions that included minors under age 16 working outside the hours
permitted by law. All outreach to the
child labor audience of working minors, parents and employers of minors was
accomplished via the WSD Facebook page Hawaii Teens at Work.
The
Division responded to 9481 inquiries and used the blog Inside Wage Standards Division and DLIR as a resource to
supplement education and outreach.
BUDGET
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