• HB755/SB852 (Sayama/Aquino): By 1/1/2028, requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a family and medical leave insurance program and begin collecting payroll contributions to finance payment of benefits. By 1/1/2029, requires the Department to start receiving claims and paying benefits under the program. Specifies eligibility requirements and employee protections under the program.

The United States is the only developed nation that doesn’t provide its workers with paid family leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides employees with only unpaid leave, and more than 40 percent of private sector workers are not covered by it. Meanwhile, the Hawai‘i Family Leave Law provides only four weeks of unpaid leave and also fails to cover around 40 percent of the state’s workforce. Hawai‘i’s temporary disability insurance program offers partial wage replacement to workers recovering from illness or injury, including childbirth, but no job protection. It’s also not available to non-biological parents or to family caregivers.

Low-wage workers are the least likely to have access to paid family leave, while they need the financial support of paid leave the most. With more and more of our kūpuna needing care, our state needs to create a safety net for families facing serious caregiving responsibilities. Although some individual companies offer employees paid leave, this benefit is typically only available to higher-income workers. Nationally, only 6 percent of low-wage workers have access to paid family leave. This lack of access to paid family leave has profound consequences for our working families.