RELATING TO WAREHOUSE WORKERS.

HB1791

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1791

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to warehouse workers
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION
1.
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The legislature finds that the rapid
growth of just-in-time logistics and same- and next-day consumer package
delivery, and advances in technology used for tracking employee productivity,
have led to a rise in the number of warehouse and distribution center workers
who are subject to quantified work quotas.
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Warehouse and distribution center employees who work under quotas are
expected to complete a quantified number of tasks within specific time periods,
often measured down to the minute or second, and face adverse employment
action, including suspension or termination, if they fail to do so.

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The
legislature further finds that those quotas generally do not allow for workers
to comply with safety guidelines or to recover from strenuous activity during
productive work time, leaving warehouse and distribution center employees who
work under them at high risk of injury and illness.

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The
legislature additionally finds that the quotas under which warehouse and
distribution center employees regularly work also affect their
compensation.
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Warehouse and distribution
center employees who work under a quota may not receive the full benefit of
minimum wages if their quota is increased to make up for the direct or indirect
effect of a minimum-wage increase.
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The legislature also finds that quotas in
occupations that are already physically demanding incentivize unsafe work,
resulting in an increase in injuries.
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The legislature notes that the workforce in warehouse and logistics is
largely comprised of people of color who depend upon these jobs to provide for
their families and often see no alternative but to prioritize quota compliance
over their own safety.
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These workers
often work faster than is healthy in order to keep their jobs.

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The
legislature recognizes that workplace injuries can take a terrible toll on
workers, their families, and their communities, and can create substantial
costs for employers.
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The most common
types of work-related serious injury reported by employers in the warehouse
sector are musculoskeletal injuries, which often require workers to miss work
and can force workers permanently out of the job and even out of the workforce.

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Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to establish the Warehouse Worker Protection Act to
create new requirements and protections for the benefit of employees in certain
warehouse distribution centers.

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SECTION
2.
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The Hawaii Revised Statutes is
amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

"
Chapter

warehouse worker protection act

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� -1
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Short title.
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This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Warehouse Worker Protection Act".

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� -2
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Definitions.
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As used in this chapter:

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"Controlled
group of corporations" has the same meaning as defined under section 1563
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, except that fifty per cent
shall be substituted for eighty per cent where eighty per cent is specified in
that definition.

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"Defined
time period" means any unit of time measurement equal to or less than the
duration of an employee's shift, and includes hours, minutes, and seconds and
any fraction thereof.

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"Director"
means the director of labor and industrial relations.

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"Employee"
means a nonexempt and non-administrative employee who works at a warehouse
distribution center and is subject to a quota.

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"Employee
work speed data" means information an employer collects, stores, analyzes,
or interprets relating to an individual employee's performance of a quota,
including but not limited to quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items
or materials handled or produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed,
measurements or metrics of employee performance in relation to a quota, and
time categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks.
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"Employee work speed data" includes
aggregated information that an employer has combined or collected together in
summary or other form so that the data cannot be identified with any
individual.

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"Employer"
means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other
person, including through the services of a third party employer, temporary
services, staffing agency, independent contractor, or any similar entity, at
any time in the prior twelve months, employs or exercises control over the
wages, hours, or working conditions of one hundred or more employees at a
single warehouse distribution center or five hundred or more employees at one
or more warehouse distribution centers in the State; provided that:

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(1)
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All employees employed directly or indirectly,
through an agent or any other person, or employed by a member of a controlled
group of corporations of which the employer is a member, shall be counted in
determining the number of employees employed at a single warehouse distribution
center or at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the State; and

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(2)
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All agents or other persons, and all members
of a controlled group of corporations of which the employer is a member, shall
be deemed to be employers.

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"Person"
means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited
liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate,
trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal
or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.

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"Quota"
means a work standard that:

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(1)
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An employee is assigned or required to
perform:

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(A)
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At a specified productivity speed;

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(B)
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As a quantified number of tasks; or

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(C)
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To handle or produce a quantified amount of
material, within a defined time period; or

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(2)
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An employee's actions are categorized between
time performing tasks and not performing tasks, and the employee's failure to
complete a task performance standard or recommendation may have an adverse
impact on the employee's continued employment or the conditions of employment.

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"Warehouse
distribution center" means an establishment as defined by any of the
following North American Industry Classification System codes, however the
establishment is denominated:

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(1)
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493 for warehousing and storage;

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(2)
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423 for merchant wholesalers, durable goods;

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(3)
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424 for merchant wholesalers, nondurable
goods;

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(4)
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454110 for electronic shopping and mail-order
houses; or

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(5)
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492110 for couriers and express delivery
services.

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� -3
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Quotas.
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Each employer shall provide to each employee, upon hire, or within
thirty days of the effective date of this chapter, a written description of
each quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of
tasks to be performed or materials to be produced or handled, within the
defined time period, and any potential adverse employment action that could
result from failure to meet the quota.
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The employer shall provide an updated written description of each quota
to which the employee is subject within two business days of any quota
change.
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The employer shall provide any
employee against whom the employer takes an adverse employment action with the
applicable quota for the employee.

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Protection from quotas.
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An employee shall not be required to meet
a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods or use of bathroom
facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom
facilities.
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An employer shall not take
adverse employment action against an employee for failure to meet a quota that
does not allow a worker to comply with meal and rest periods or for failure to
meet a quota that has not been disclosed to the employee pursuant to section -3.

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� -5
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Time on task.
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Consistent with existing law, paid and unpaid breaks shall not be
considered productive time for the purpose of any quota or monitoring system
unless the employee is required to remain on call.

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� -6
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Recordkeeping.
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(a)
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Each employer shall establish, maintain, and preserve contemporaneous,
true, and accurate records of the following:

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(1)
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Each employee's own personal employee work
speed
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data;

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(2)
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The aggregated employee work speed data for
similar employees at the same establishment; and

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(3)
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The written descriptions of the quota the
employee was provided pursuant to section -3.

Records shall be maintained and preserved throughout
the duration of each employee's period of employment and made available to the
director upon request.

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(b)
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Subsequent to any employee's separation from
the employer, the records relating to the six month period before the date of
the employee's separation from the employer shall be preserved for at least
three years subsequent to the date of the employee's separation and made
available to the director upon request.
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Nothing in this section shall require an employer to keep employee work
speed data records if the employer does not use quotas or monitor employee work
speed data.

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� -7
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Right to request.
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(a)
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A current employee has the right to request a written description of
each quota to which the employee is subject, a copy of the employee's own
personal employee work speed data, and a copy of the prior six months of
aggregated employee work speed data for similar employees at the same
establishment.

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(b)
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A former employee has the right to request,
within three years subsequent to the date of the employee's separation from the
employer, a written description of the quota to which the employee was subject
as of the date of the employee's separation, a copy of the employee's own
personal employee work speed data for the six months before the employee's date
of separation, and a copy of aggregated employee work speed data for similar
employees at the same establishment for the six months before the employee's
date of separation.

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(c)
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Requested records pursuant to this section
shall be provided at no cost to the current or former employee.

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(d)
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The employer shall provide requested records
pursuant to this section as soon as practicable; provided that requested
written descriptions of the quota shall be provided no later than two business
days following the date of the receipt of the request and requested personal
employee work speed data and aggregated employee work speed data shall be
provided no later than seven business days following the date of the receipt of
the request.

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(e)
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Nothing in this section shall require an
employer to use quotas or monitor employee work speed data.
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An employer that does not monitor employee
work speed data shall have no obligation to provide the data.

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Unlawful retaliation.
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(a)
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No person, including but not limited to an employer, the employer's
agent, or person acting as or on behalf of a hiring entity, or the officer or
agent of any entity, business, corporation, partnership, or limited liability
company, shall discharge or in any way retaliate, discriminate or take adverse
action against any person for exercising any rights conferred under this
chapter, or for being perceived as exercising rights conferred by this chapter,
including but not limited to:

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(1)
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Initiating a request for information about a
quota or personal employee work speed data pursuant to section
-7(a); or

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(2)
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Making a complaint related to a quota alleging
any violation of this chapter to the director; any other local, state, or
federal governmental agency or official; or the employer.

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(b)
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An employee need not explicitly refer to this
chapter to be protected from an adverse action.
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This section shall apply to former employees and to employees who
mistakenly but in good faith allege violations of this chapter.

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(c)
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If a person takes adverse action against an
employee within ninety days of the employee's engaging or attempting to engage
in activities protected by this chapter, the conduct shall raise a rebuttable
presumption that the action is an adverse action in violation of this
chapter.
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The presumption may be rebutted
by clear and convincing evidence that:

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(1)
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The action was taken for other permissible
reasons; and

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(2)
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The engaging or attempting to engage in
activities protected by this chapter was not a motivating factor in the adverse
action.

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Enforcement.
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The director shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement
this chapter.
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The director shall be
authorized to enforce this chapter and to assess civil penalties.

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Other powers.
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The attorney general, either upon the attorney general's own
complaint or the complaint of any person acting for themselves or the general
public, may prosecute actions, either civil or criminal, for violations of this
chapter, and enforce this chapter independently and without specific direction
of the director."

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SECTION 3.
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This Act does not affect rights and duties
that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun
before its effective date.

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SECTION 4.
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If any provision of this Act, or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end
the provisions of this Act are severable.

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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Warehouse
Worker Protection Act; Warehouse Quotas; Employer Recordkeeping

Description:

Establishes
the Warehouse Worker Protection Act.
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Requires certain warehouse employers to provide written descriptions of
quotas to employees and maintain records of quotas and employee work speed
data.
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Protects employees from quotas
that would prevent compliance with meal or rest periods or the use of bathroom
facilities.
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Allows employees to request
a written description of their quota and employee work speed data.
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Requires the Director of Labor and Industrial
Relations to adopt rules to implement the provisions of the Act.

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