Hawaii’s Family Leave Policy: What Employers Need to Know

Hawaii isn’t currently one of the 14 US states that offer paid family leave, but it does have a state leave policy that gives basic support to select employees. 

If you have employees who live in Hawaii, or if you own a business on one of the islands, you need to comply with state and federal leave laws. In this guide, you’ll learn which businesses are subject to Hawaii’s leave law, what employers have to do to comply with federal leave, and the benefits of offering paid leave. 

Hawaii doesn’t have paid family leave, but some people can take unpaid leave

Paid family leave gives employees financial support to take time off work for personal matters, like dealing with a health condition, or family-related reasons, like caring for a new child or sick family member.

Unfortunately, Hawaii doesn’t have a state-wide paid family or medical leave program. What it does have is the Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL), which gives eligible employees up to four weeks a year of unpaid leave for: 

• Bonding with a new child after their birth or adoption

• Caring for a child, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, or parent with a serious health condition 

HFLL only applies to employers who have 100 or more employees working in the state of Hawaii, all of whom have worked at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. 

To qualify for unpaid leave under HFLL, employees need to have worked for their employer for at least six consecutive months (whether part-time, full-time, or contract-based). To avoid going one month without pay, employees can use their accrued vacation days or paid time off (PTO) during their leave. 

Does Hawaii have paid disability leave? 

Hawaii’s form of paid disability leave is the Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) law. TDI requires all Hawaii employers to give employees partial wage replacement when they take leave for non-work-related injuries, illnesses, or health conditions, including pregnancy. 

To be eligible for TDI, an employee must: 

• Have been employed in the two weeks prior to the disability

• Have at least 14 weeks of Hawaii employment (doesn’t have to be consecutive or with only one employer)

• Have been paid for 20 hours or more during those weeks of employment 

• Have earned no less than $400 in the 52 weeks prior to the first day of disability leave

How do employers obtain disability insurance coverage? 

You have a few options for complying with the state’s TDI law: 

1. Insured plan: This is when you purchase insurance from an authorized insurance carrier. 

2. Self-insured plan: If you plan to pay for your employees’ TDI insurance yourself, you have to submit a form to Hawaii’s Disability Compensation Division proving your company’s financial solvency. 

3. Collective bargaining agreement: Instead of choosing a self-insured or insured plan, you can offer sick leave benefits comparable to what TDI insurance would provide employees. 

How much do employers pay for disability coverage? 

The insurance you choose dictates how much your employees receive in wage replacement each week, how long their disability period lasts, and how much you contribute in premiums. 

For regular plans, your employees can get a maximum of 26 weeks of disability leave, with weekly payments equal to 58% of their average weekly wage, up to the maximum weekly benefit ($1,500 in 2026). 

You can either pay for TDI insurance yourself or have your employees share the cost with you. In that case, employees can contribute 0.5% of their weekly wages, up to the maximum ($7.50 a week in 2026). 

How does federal leave work in Hawaii? 

Certain Hawaii employers—those with 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius—are subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Under FMLA, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for:

1. Bonding: To care for and bond with a new child, including newborn, adopted, and fostered children

2. Caregiving: To care for a family member with a serious health condition, including spouses, children, and parents

3. Medical recovery: To manage a serious personal health condition 

4. Military exigency: To manage affairs when a family member, including a spouse, child, or parent, is on or called to active duty

Who qualifies for FMLA leave?

To qualify for FMLA leave, your employees have to:

• Meet one of the qualifying reasons above

• Have worked for you for at least one year (consecutively or non-consecutively)

• Have over 1,250 hours of service (roughly 25 hours a week) in the 12 months immediately before leave begins

FMLA vs HFLL

FMLA and HFLL leave are both fairly difficult for the average worker to qualify for. According to data gathered by the National Partnership for Women and Families, FMLA isn’t accessible to 69% of employees in Hawaii. 

The requirements for working hours and service are strict, as is the threshold for covered employers (50 local employees). HFLL, on the other hand, has more lenient employment requirements (just six months of work), but only applies to businesses with at least 100 employees. 

If your employees do happen to qualify for both types of leave, the leaves run at the same time, and your employees receive the strongest protections from either program.  

Here are some more differences between the two laws:

What are my FMLA and HFLL employer obligations? 

If you employ 50 or more people who work within a 75-mile radius of your business, you’re considered a covered employer under FMLA. And if you employ 100 or more people in Hawaii, you’re also subject to the HFLL. 

Let’s review your responsibilities for each:

1. Educate employee about their leave rights

If your employees don’t know about FMLA and HFLL, it’s up to you to inform them of their leave rights and eligibility. As a covered employer, you’re legally to post a general FMLA notice in a prominent area of your workplace, as well as the Hawaii general labor law poster, which explains HFLL. Print copies of the posters in any languages your employees regularly speak in the workplace. 

The laws also require you to give written notice to all your FMLA-eligible and HFLL-eligible employees explaining how and when to request a leave. You can print a guide for employees, email an explanation, or include a general write-up in your employee handbook. 

If you don’t follow the posting and notification requirements, you might find yourself with a civil money penalty to pay.

2. Distribute official notices

When one of your employees requests FMLA leave, you have five business days to give them a Rights and Responsibilities Notice, which explains when their leave will take place, whether or not they need to provide certification for their leave, and their right to job protection and continued health insurance during leave. 

Then, before your employee takes leave, you need to give them a Designation Notice confirming that their leave qualifies as FMLA leave. 

HFLL is similar. Hawaii doesn’t have official forms to download, but you still need to:

• Tell employees who request leave whether or not they’re eligible for HFLL

• Inform employees if their requested leave qualifies as HFLL

3. Continue health insurance and reinstate employees to their jobs

If your employees take FMLA leave, you have two crucial responsibilities: 

1. Continue paying your portion of employees’ health insurance premiums 

2. Return employees to their jobs when they’re back from leave

If your employees take HFLL leave, you don’t necessarily have to continue paying their health insurance during leave, but you do have to reinstate them to their positions once leave is over. 

4. Maintain records

For tax purposes and potential audits, it’s important to save your payroll and personnel records for at least three years. Think: payroll receipts, paystubs, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA and HFLL notices. 

A lack of paid family leave hurts Hawaii

Without state-wide paid family leave, Hawaii employees are left with just a few options: 

1. Take paid leave from their employer if they have a paid leave policy 

2. Take HFLL leave if they qualify

3. Take FMLA leave if they qualify

4. Use sick days or accrued vacation time

5. Quit their jobs to take care of themselves and their families

Without as many people (primarily women) participating in the workforce and supporting their families, local economies can struggle. That means businesses suffer too, not just with a potential drop in customer spending, but with higher employee turnover. 

That’s why state-run paid family leave programs are like a rising tide, lifting all metaphorical boats: Hawaii workers, families, small businesses, large enterprises, and local economies. Paid leave programs can: 

• Keep more women and primary caretakers in the workforce

• Increase employee engagement and output

• Stimulate local and state economies 

• Improve employee retention rates

• Facilitate recruitment and hiring more easily

How to offer paid family leave to your employees

If you can shuffle some business expenses and investments to provide paid family leave for your employees, you should. Your employees deserve financial support during major life transitions, and you deserve the business success that inevitably comes with a happier, healthier, and more engaged workforce. 

Here are the general steps to take: 

1. Research leave policies around the country (including New York and California) and across your industry.

2. Determine your qualifying leave situations, leave duration, and wage replacement.

3. Create a written leave policy breaking down all the details (like how to request a leave and whether or not employees’ jobs will be protected).

4. Decide whether to self-insure or purchase paid family leave insurance.

5. Update your employee handbook and communicate to your staff.

Running a business in Hawaii

Need to brush up on your state’s hiring and tax mandates? We’ve got you covered:

• Business taxes in Hawaii

• Hiring in Hawaii

• Business tax incentives in Hawaii

• Hawaii retirement savings plans