The 2017 legislative session began on January 18, and Hawaii Employers Council has already begun to review and analyze employment bills being introduced at the Capitol.  While the publication of this session's first Legislative Digest is forthcoming, Council members should note the recent publication of HEC's 2016 State Employment Law Changes report.  The report provides a summary of twenty-four new laws enacted during the Regular Session of the Twenty-Ninth Legislature in 2016, which affect the field of employer-employee relations or may otherwise impact the cost of doing business in Hawaii.  These laws require the careful attention of Hawaii employers, and are therefore featured in their entirety in the 2016 report.