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Hawaii Payment of Wages

July 31st, 2006 Posted by Jane

Hawaiian law protects employees by spelling out their rights when it comes to getting paid for their employment. Under the Wage and Hour Laws, employees have the right to be paid at least twice monthly on regular paydays designated in advance, either in cash or with checks convertible into cash. The employee must be paid within 7 days after the end of each pay period.

An employee has the right be notified in writing at the time of hire of their rate of pay and the paydays. Any changes in pay arrangements, and of any policies with regard to vacation, sick, or holiday pay must be made in writing or through a posted notice prior to the change. The employee must also be furnished with a pay statement on payday showing gross wages, amount and purpose of each reduction, net pay, date of payment and pay period covered.

I know that if an employee leaves a job, they must be paid in full at the time of discharge, or no later than the next working day. If the employee quits or resigns, they may be paid no later than the next regular payday. However, if a worker gives an employer one pay period’s notice of the intention to quit, the worker must be paid on the last day of employment. If an employer requires that a worker gives advance notice of quitting and the worker is then terminated after giving that notice, the employer is liable for the wages the worker would have earned up to the last day they intended to work, unless they were terminated for cause.

An employer may not collect wages or deduct wages for:

Fines (for example, an amount paid for being tardy)
Cash shortages in a common cash register or cash box used by two or more people, or in a cash register or cash box under a worker’s sole control unless given an opportunity to account for all moneys received at the start of a shift and all monies turned in at the end of a shift.
Penalties or replacement costs for breakage
Losses due to an acceptance of dishonored checks, if the employer has authorized the worker to accept checks
Losses due to faulty workmanship, lost or stolen property, damage to property, or default of customer credit or nonpayment for goods or services received by customers

An employer or prospective employer also can’t require a worker to pay a job application processing fee. An employer may deduct state and federal withholding taxes, amounts specified by court orders and amounts an employee authorizes in writing.

In the case of unpaid wages, I read that an employee has a year to file a complaint with the Wage Standards Division. Certain executives, administrators, professionals and outside salespersons may need to file a claim in a court of law.

Employers must post a notice of the Hawaii Payment of Wages laws at their place of business. This can be found on the Hawaii Complete Labor Law poster.