HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	175
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON LABOR TO CONVENE A LEGISLATIVE WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING AND IMPLEMENTING A PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE PROGRAM FOR THE STATE.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the United States is the only remaining industrialized nation without mandated access to paid family and medical leave benefits for the private sector employees under federal law; and

 

     WHEREAS, paid family and medical leave programs have been enacted in thirteen states and Washington, D.C. as of January 2024; and

 

     WHEREAS, existing Hawaii law does not require employers to provide paid family and medical leave to employees; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) requires employers with fifty of more employees to provide unpaid family and medical leave to their employees and existing Hawaii law requires employers with one hundred or more employees to provide unpaid family leave to their employees; and

 

     WHEREAS, ninety-six percent of private employers in the State however, have fewer than fifty employees, and are therefore not statutorily required to provide unpaid family and medical leave under the FMLA or family leave under existing state law; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, only one in four private sector workers in the State have access to paid family and medical leave, voluntarily provided by their employers; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to a May 2020 report published by the AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving, there are nearly forty-eight million family caregivers in the United States, of which sixty-one percent are working while juggling caregiving responsibilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, a family caregiver is a relative, partner, friend, or neighbor who has a significant personal relationship with, and who provides a broad range of assistance for, an older person or an adult with a chronic, disabling, or serious health condition; and

 

     WHEREAS, family caregivers are the backbone of the long-term care system in the State, especially in the context of the ongoing health care workforce shortage; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Valuing the Invaluable: 2023 Update report published by AARP in March 2023, there are 154,000 family caregivers in the State, contributing 144 million hours of unpaid services, worth an estimated $2.6 billion; and

 

     WHEREAS, family caregivers face many physical, emotional, and financial challenges, especially because they are often required to balance unpaid caregiving duties with employment and other personal responsibilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, a survey conducted in 2023 by AARP and S&P Global showed that sixty-seven percent of family caregivers are having difficulty balancing their jobs with caregiving duties; twenty-seven percent of working caregivers have shifted from full-time to part-time work or have reduced work hours and sixteen percent have turned down a promotion; sixteen percent have stopped working entirely for a period of time; and thirteen percent have changed employers to meet caregiving responsibilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, during the past two decades, heightened attention has been given to the dual responsibilities of "sandwich generation" caregivers, who are family caregivers sandwiched between a younger generation--children or grandchildren they care for--and an older one--an older family member or friend for whom they also provide care; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2019, thirty percent of family caregivers in the United States were sandwich generation caregivers, who generally span ages thirty-five to sixty-four and are more likely than other caregivers to be working while performing their caregiving responsibilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result of the dual-generation care demands, sandwich generation caregivers report higher levels of emotional and financial strain; and

 

     WHEREAS, inequity in the existing socio-economic structure and support infrastructure are also subjecting working women and people of color to be unequally burdened by caregiving duties and economic hardships due to caregiving; and

 

     WHEREAS, a paid family and medical leave program would enable family caregivers to take a limited period of time off from work to care of loved ones without fear of losing their jobs or income; and

 

     WHEREAS, paid family and medical leave programs are associated with improved outcomes in the earliest years of life for individuals, including higher rates of breastfeeding and immunization and lower rates of child abuse, domestic violence, and financial instability; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the face of the current workforce shortage, a paid family and medical leave programs would incentivize individuals to join the labor market and improve employee retention, filling gaps and saving employers long-term recruitment and training costs; and

 

     WHEREAS, most small businesses in the State however, cannot finance a privately-funded paid family and medical leave insurance program that can provide benefits for all of their employees; and

 

     WHEREAS, a state-administered paid family and medical leave program would benefit the State's workforce while reducing the financial burden for employers compared to a privately funded alternative; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Senate Standing Committee on Labor and Technology and House of Representatives Standing Committee on Labor are requested to convene a legislative working group to develop recommendations for establishing and implementing a paid family and medical leave program for the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to:

 

     (1)  Recommend parameters for a statewide paid family and medical leave program that benefits both public and private sector workers;

 

     (2)  Review the impact of federal and state regulations on the establishment of a paid family and medical leave program;

 

     (3)  Develop an implementation plan that outlines an administrative framework for paid family and medical leave, including departmental oversight, projected costs, employer and employee contribution rates, staffing needs, outreach to employers and employees, and potential timelines for program enactment and the initiation of benefits distribution; and

 

     (4)  Examine and address how the State's Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program may interface with or complement the paid family and medical leave program, including the feasibility, cost-benefit analysis, and a general roadmap for transitioning the existing private TDI program to an expanded public program that includes or complements paid family and medical leave benefits; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to be composed of the following members:

 

     (1)  The Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, or the Director's designee, to serve as chairperson of the working group;

 

     (2)  The Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Labor, or the Chair's designee;

 

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