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HB2165
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
2165
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to the hawaii employment security law
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 383-29,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as
follows:
����
"(a)
�
An unemployed individual shall be eligible to
receive benefits with respect to any week only if the department finds that:
����
(1)
�
The individual has
made a claim for benefits with respect to that week in accordance with rules
the department may prescribe and with section 383-29.7 for partially unemployed
individuals;
����
(2)
�
The individual has
registered for work, [
as defined in section 383-1,
] and thereafter
continued to report, at an employment office in accordance with rules
adopted
by
the department [
may prescribe
], or such other place as the
department may approve, except that the department may waive or alter either or
both of the requirements of this paragraph for:
���������
(A)
�
Partially
unemployed individuals pursuant to section 383-29.8;
���������
(B)
�
Individuals
attached to regular jobs;
���������
(C)
�
Union members in
good standing being referred to jobs through the labor union job placement
service; provided that the labor union agrees to report to the department all
individuals who refuse job referrals or offers of work and all individuals not
ready, willing, and able to work, and the labor union is approved by the
department for the purpose of waiving work registration;
��������
[
(D)
�
Individuals
involved in a labor dispute and for whom an employer-employee relationship
continues to exist;
��������
(E)
]
�
(D)
�
Individuals who are suspended from
work and for whom an employer-employee relationship continues to exist;
provided that the waiver shall apply only to the period of suspension but shall
not exceed four consecutive weeks of unemployment immediately following the
week in which the individual was suspended; or
�������
[
(F)
]
�
(E)
�
Other types of cases or situations in
which the department finds that compliance with those requirements would be
oppressive, or would be inconsistent with the purpose of this chapter;
����
(3)
�
The individual is
able to work and is available for work; provided that no claimant shall be
considered ineligible with respect to any week of unemployment for failure to
comply with this paragraph if the failure is due to an illness or disability,
as evidenced by a physician's certificate, which occurs during an uninterrupted
period of unemployment with respect to which benefits are claimed and no work
that would have been suitable before the beginning of the illness or disability
has been offered the claimant;
����
(4)
�
The individual has
been unemployed for a waiting period of one week within the individual's
benefit year; provided that no week shall be counted as a waiting period if
benefits have been paid with respect thereto unless the individual was eligible
for benefits with respect thereto as provided in this section and section
383-30, except for the requirements of this paragraph;
����
(5)
�
In the case of an
individual whose benefit year begins after January 4, 1992, the individual has
been employed, as defined in section 383-2, and has been paid wages for insured
work during the individual's base period in an amount equal to not less than twenty-six
times the individual's weekly benefit amount, as determined under section
383-22(b), and the individual has been paid wages for insured work during at
least two quarters of the individual's base period; provided that no otherwise
eligible individual who established a prior benefit year under this chapter or
the unemployment compensation law of any other state, shall be eligible to
receive benefits in a succeeding benefit year until, during the period
following the beginning of the prior benefit year, that individual worked in
covered employment for which wages were paid in an amount equal to at least
five times the weekly benefit amount established for that individual in the
succeeding benefit year.
�������������
For purposes of this
paragraph, wages and weeks of employment shall be counted for benefit purposes
with respect to any benefit year only if the benefit year begins subsequent to
the dates on which the employing unit by which the wages or other remuneration,
as provided in the definition of weeks of employment in section 383-1, were
paid has satisfied the conditions of section 383-1 with respect to becoming an
employer.
�������������
Effective for benefit years
beginning January 1, 2004, and thereafter, if an individual fails to establish
a valid claim for unemployment insurance benefits under this paragraph, the
department shall make a redetermination of entitlement based upon the alternative
base period[
, as defined in section 383-1
]; provided further that the
individual shall satisfy the conditions of this paragraph that apply to claims
filed using the base period[
, as defined in section 383-1,
] and the
establishment of claims using the alternative base period shall be subject to
the terms and conditions of sections 383-33 and 383-94; and
����
(6)
�
Effective November
24, 1994, an individual who has been referred to reemployment services pursuant
to the profiling system under section 383-92.5 shall participate in those
services or in similar services.
�
The
individual may not be required to participate in reemployment services if the
department determines the individual has completed those services, or there is
justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in those services.
����
For the purposes of this subsection,
employment and wages used to establish a benefit year shall not thereafter be
reused to establish another benefit year."
����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 383-44,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as
follows:
����
"(c)
�
The individual liable, in the discretion of
the department, shall repay the overpaid amount and the penalty assessment
amount to the department for the fund or have the overpaid amount only deducted
from any future benefits payable to the individual under this chapter [
within
two years after the date of mailing of the notice of redetermination or the
final decision on an appeal from the redetermination.
�
Effective
April 1, 2013
, the
]
.
�
The
overpaid benefits amount and the
penalty assessment amount, costs, and administrative fees may be deducted from
federal income tax refunds."
����
SECTION
3
.
�
Section 383-70,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
����
"
�383-70
�
Contributions; levy;
returns; assessments.
�
(a)
�
Contributions are hereby levied against
employers as provided in this chapter.
�
Except as may be provided to the contrary in accordance with [
such
regulations as
]
rules adopted by
the department [
of labor and
industrial relations may prescribe
], contributions shall be paid quarterly
on or before the last day of the month succeeding the last month of each
quarter.
����
(b)
�
Each employer shall make at the time and in the manner prescribed by the
department a full, true, and correct report with respect to the wages paid by
the employer, which report shall contain other information as may be prescribed
by the department.
�
For each calendar
quarter beginning July 1, 1988, [
such
]
the
report shall
include wage information for each employee in accordance with [
such
] the
rules as
adopted by
the department [
may prescribe
].
�
The report shall be made by the employer even
though the employer is not required to pay contributions.
����
(c)
�
If any return filed is erroneous, or is so deficient as not to disclose
the full liability, or if the employer disclaims liability for contributions
with respect to any wages upon which contributions are required to be paid, the
department shall assess the correct amount of contributions and shall notify
the employer thereof; and if any employer fails, neglects, or refuses to make a
return, the department shall proceed as it deems best to obtain information on which
to base the assessment of contributions and shall assess the same and notify
the employer thereof.
�
The amount so
assessed shall be paid on the twenty-first day after the notice was mailed,
properly addressed to the employer at the employer's last known place of
business.
����
(d)
�
Notices of assessment of contributions, records of contributions
assessed and payments thereon, and delinquent contributions lists showing
unpaid contributions assessed against any employer shall be prima facie proof
of the assessment of the person assessed, the amount of contributions due and
unpaid, and the delinquency in payment, and that all requirements of law in
relation to the assessment of the contributions have been complied with.
����
(e)
�
If the department determines that any reason exists why the collection
of any contributions accrued will be jeopardized by delaying collection, it may
make an immediate assessment thereof and the director [
of labor and
industrial relations
] may proceed to enforce collection immediately, but
interest shall not begin to accrue upon any contributions until the date when
such contributions would normally have become delinquent.
����
(f)
�
The department shall assess and collect a
service charge for any assessment made under this section that is dishonored
for any reason.
�
The service charge
collected shall be deposited into the special unemployment insurance
administration fund established under section 383-127.
"
����
SECTION
4
.
�
Section 383-94,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
����
"
�383-94
�
Records and reports.
�
(a)
�
Each employing unit shall keep true and accurate work records, for [
such
periods
]
a period
of time and containing [
such
] information
as the department [
of labor and industrial relations
] may
prescribe.
�
The records shall be open to
inspection and be subject to being copied by the authorized representatives of
the department at any reasonable time and as often as may be necessary.
�
Any authorized representative of the
department, or the referee, may require from any employing unit any sworn or
unsworn reports, with respect to persons employed by it, which such authorized
representative, or the referee, deems necessary for the effective
administration of this chapter.
����
[
(b)
�
Each employer shall report all new employees
hired subject to procedures prescribed by the department, within five working
days after the first day of employment of such individual.
�
If any employer fails to report with respect
to a newly hired employee within five working days after the first day of
employment, the employer shall pay a penalty in the amount of $10.
�
Effective October 1, 1998, employers need not
report all new hires to the department.
����
(c)
]
(b)
�
Each employer shall report the separation of
any employee or the wages paid to [
such
]
the
employee, or both,
upon request of the department within five calendar days from the date that the
request was mailed
or transmitted by electronic notification
to the
employer.
�
If any employer fails to
report with respect to the separation of an individual, or the remuneration [
which
]
that
the employer paid to the individual, or both, within five calendar
days after mailing of notice
or electronic notification
from the
department, the employer shall pay a penalty in the amount of [
$10.
]
$1,000.
����
[
(d)
]
(c)
�
Each employer or employing unit [
as
defined in section 383-1
] shall furnish the department with wage
information for each employee in accordance with rules [
as
]
adopted
by
the department [
of labor and industrial relations may prescribe
],
except that no report shall be filed with respect to an employee of a state or
local agency performing intelligence or counterintelligence functions, if the
head of that agency has determined that filing such a report could endanger the
safety of the employee or compromise an ongoing investigation or intelligence
mission.
�
[
Such
]
The
quarterly wage report shall be filed with the department on or before the last
day of the month succeeding the last month of each quarter.
�
Any employer who fails to file a report of
wages paid to each of the employer's employees for any period in the manner and
within the time prescribed by this chapter and the rules of the department, or
any employer who the department finds has filed an insufficient report, shall
pay a penalty of [
$30.
]
$1,000.
����
[
(e)
]
(d)
�
Penalties shall be assessed, collected, and
paid into the fund in the same manner as contributions.
�
The director, in a case of excusable failure
to file any report under this section within the required time, may remit the
penalty."
����
SECTION
5.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.
����
SECTION 6.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
provided that sections 2, 3, and 4, shall take effect on April 1, 2027.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
DLIR;
Hawaii Employment Security Law; Unemployment Benefits; Recovery of Benefits;
Assessments; Records and Reports
Description:
Amends
the qualifications for unemployed individuals who are able to receive
unemployment benefits.
�
Beginning
4/1/2027, removes the two-year limitation on the recoupment of overpayments.
�
Beginning 4/1/2027, requires the Department of
Labor and Industrial Relations to assess and collect a service charge for
dishonored unemployment insurance assessments.
�
Beginning 4/1/2027, specifies that employers
must report separation and wage information within five calendar days of notice
being sent, whether by mail or electronic notification.
�
Beginning 4/1/2027, increases the penalty for
failure to report separations or wages and for failure to file or for filing
insufficient, quarterly wage reports.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.