On September 15, 2020, Hawaii Governor David Ige amended the Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL) by extending family leave to include care for an employee’s grandchildren and defining sibling as an individual who is a biological, adopted, or foster brother or sister; or a stepbrother or stepsister of an employee. HFLL applies to employers who have 100 or more employees within the state of Hawaii for each working day during 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Employees must have at least six (6) months of consecutive employment to be eligible for HFLL.
Effective July 1, 2020, the HFLL was amended to expand situations in which an eligible employee would be entitled to four (4) weeks of unpaid leave to include the following:
- Upon the birth of a child of the employee or the adoption of a child; or
- To care for the employee’s child, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, sibling, grandchild, or parent with a serious health condition.
Also effective September 15, 2020, Hawaii Governor David Ige limited the convictions that may be used in employment decisions, from all convictions in the most recent ten (10) years, to felony convictions that occurred in the more recent seven (7) years and misdemeanor convictions that occurred in the most recent five (5) years.