STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2887

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2312

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2312 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CIVIL RIGHTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide basic protection against discrimination for interns and participants in training or apprenticeship programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission, Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women, American Association of University Women of Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, Midwives Alliance of Hawaii, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Pride at Work – Hawaii, Breastfeeding Hawaii, Pono Hawai‘i Initiative, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, and ten individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that students and workers who are entering the competitive job market are increasingly faced with an expectation that they must start in an unpaid or low-paid internship as a gateway to employment. In some instances, these internships create power imbalances that make interns vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination; however, many interns do not fall under the definition of "employees" for the purposes of federal and state fair employment law protections. Your Committee concludes that these students and workers should also be afforded basic protections.

Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting "apprenticeship" and inserting "job" in the definition of "internship or job training program" for clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2312, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2312, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair