Criminal history inquiry — post-offer timing requirement
Employers in Hawaii may not inquire about or consider an applicant's criminal conviction record until after the applicant has received a conditional offer of employment. The employer may then withdraw the offer only if the conviction record bears a rational relationship to the duties and responsibilities of the position.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-2.5(d) exempts nineteen categories of employers from the post-offer timing rule, including state agencies (under § 78-2.7 and § 831-3.1), the Department of Education, the Department of Health for certain positions, the judiciary, counties for specified positions, financial institutions insured by a federal agency, detective and security guard agencies, private schools, providers of developmental disabilities homes, and certain other positions expressly authorized by federal or state law to conduct pre-offer criminal history inquiries.
Source: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-2.5
New hire reporting to Child Support Enforcement Agency
Every employer in Hawaii must report each new hire to the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) within twenty days of hire. The reporting obligation is set by Haw. Rev. Stat. § 576D-16(a), which took effect October 1, 1998.
Information required. The employer must report: (1) the new hire's name, address, and social security number; (2) the date services for remuneration were first performed; and (3) the employer's name, federal employer identification number (FEIN), and address.
Submission methods. The statute permits three reporting methods: first-class mail, magnetic media, or electronic transmission. The report must be made on a W-4 form or its equivalent. Employers who transmit reports magnetically or electronically must do so twice monthly, with submissions spaced not less than twelve days and not more than sixteen days apart.
Definition of "new hire." Under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 576D-16(d), a "new hire" is an employee who either (1) has not previously been employed by the employer, or (2) was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from that prior employment for at least sixty consecutive days. Rehiring an employee who left less than 60 days ago does not trigger the reporting obligation; rehiring after a separation of 60 or more days does.
Purpose. The CSEA maintains the reports as Hawaii's state directory of new hires, which is then furnished to the national directory of new hires within three working days. The directory is used primarily for child support enforcement—matching newly hired employees against records of individuals who owe child support.
Penalty. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 576D-16(b) authorizes civil penalties for employers who fail to comply with the reporting requirement, though the statute does not specify the penalty amount in subsection (a). (The penalty structure is set forth elsewhere in the chapter.)
The new hire reporting obligation is distinct from the federal Form I-9 employment eligibility verification requirement and from Hawaii's unemployment insurance new-hire reporting under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 383-94, which requires reporting within five working days after the first day of employment for UI purposes.
Source: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 576D-16