STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2111-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2386

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT EARNINGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require hourly rate or salary ranges to be disclosed on job listings for certain employees and exempt employers having fewer than twenty-five employees, rather than fewer than fifty employees, from this requirement.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; American Association of University Women of Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Fujiwara & Rosenbaum, LLLC; Hawaiʻi Women Lawyers; Hawaiʻi State Democratic Women's Caucus; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business and Maui Chamber of Commerce. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Society of Human Resource Management – Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that transparency in compensation practices is essential to promoting equal employment opportunity and preventing wage discrimination. Your Committee further finds that exemptions from existing pay disclosure requirements have limited the effectiveness of wage transparency laws, allowing disparities in pay to persist across job categories and employer size. Requiring the disclosure of hourly rates or salary ranges in job listings for full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employment will provide job seekers with meaningful information, reduce information asymmetry in hiring, and support fairer compensation practices, while advancing the State's commitment to equal pay and nondiscrimination in employment.

Your Committee suggests an effective date of July 1, 2027, for this measure, to give employers enough time to ensure all job postings comply with the hourly rate and salary range disclosure requirements.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing the disclosure requirement exemption for employers with fewer than fifty employees; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair