January 17, 2024 marked the opening of the 2024 Legislative Session. While the recovery and rebuild of Lahaina, affordable housing, renewable energy and clean water are among the House and Senate key priorities for 2024, employee benefits and wages appear to be top of mind of our legislators. A number of bills related to paid family and sick leave have been introduced as well as multiple measures designed to allow more employees to be protected by Hawaii minimum wage and overtime rates. Tip credit continues to be a hot topic with multiple bills introduced that if passed would either repeal the tip credit law or increase the tip credit. Also introduced were bills allowing striking workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits. Finally, a number of bills relating to workforce development in targeted industries such as career and technical education, healthcare and CDL drivers were introduced. For a full list of bills Hawaii Employers Council is tracking this session, view our 2024 Employment-Related Bills and Other Bills of Interest. We will post updates to these bills throughout the session as they become available. 

Employers interested in submitting testimony for these or any bills this session should review the testimony instructions or watch a video on how to submit testimony online provided by the Legislature. The Legislature is accepting written, videoconference and in-person testimony at public hearings. Please note that if you plan on visiting the Capitol you must now walk through metal detector scans at the entrances. Public access to the Capitol is between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.