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Hawaii Paid Sick Leave Explained: Covered by Insurance, Not by Accrual
Hawaii has no paid sick leave mandate, which is misleading on its own. It requires employers to carry temporary disability insurance for non-work illness and injury, and the Prepaid Health Care Act requires health coverage for employees working 20 or more hours a week. Illness is covered in Hawaii, through insurance rather than through accrual.
Putting Hawaii in the no-mandate column is technically correct and practically misleading. Hawaii has no statute requiring an employer to accrue paid sick hours. It has two other statutes that make it one of the most heavily regulated states in the country for exactly the situation sick leave exists to cover.
Employers must carry temporary disability insurance for non-work-related illness and injury, and the Prepaid Health Care Act requires health coverage for employees working 20 or more hours a week. Illness is addressed in Hawaii. It is addressed through insurance rather than through a balance.
Hawaii at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None statewide for private employers |
|---|---|
| Governing rule | Your written policy, enforced as written |
| State paid family and medical leave | None. Federal FMLA only, unpaid, at 50+ employees |
| Minimum wage | $16.00 |
| Overtime | Weekly over 40 |
| Coverage below the 20-employee COBRA line | Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act - Continuation in case of inability to earn wages (disability continuation, not a true termination-based mini-COBRA), up to 3 months [Haw. Rev. Stat. section 393-15 (Continuation of coverage in case of inability to earn wages), part of the Prepaid Health Care Act (HRS ch. 393)] |
Temporary disability insurance does the work sick leave does elsewhere
TDI provides partial wage replacement during a qualifying non-work illness or injury. The employee makes a claim and receives a benefit, rather than spending hours from an accrued bucket.
The consequences run in both directions. For a longer absence, a Hawaii employee is often better protected than an employee in a 40-hour accrual state, because a fixed balance runs out and an insurance benefit has a duration of its own. For a single day of illness, TDI does nothing, and that is precisely the gap a written policy has to fill.
The Prepaid Health Care Act has no equivalent anywhere else
Hawaii requires employers to provide health coverage to employees working 20 or more hours a week, with a cap on what can be charged to the employee. No other state has a requirement like it, and it predates the Affordable Care Act by decades.
For a mainland employer hiring its first Hawaii employee, this is the fact that matters most and the one least likely to be in the onboarding checklist. It is not a leave question, but it changes the cost of a part-time Hawaii hire in a way that no other state does, and the 20-hour line is a scheduling decision as much as a benefits one.
Coverage continues while the employee is off sick
Haw. Rev. Stat. section 393-15, inside the Prepaid Health Care Act, requires an employer to keep paying its pre-sickness share of the health premium for an employee who is hospitalised or otherwise prevented by sickness from working. That continues for up to three months after the month the absence began, or for as long as regular wages are being paid if that period is longer.
This is not a mini-COBRA and should not be described as one. It is a continuation triggered by illness rather than by separation, and it obliges the employer to keep contributing rather than merely to offer the employee the chance to pay.
What the handbook still has to say
None of the above answers the ordinary questions. Does a Hawaii employee accrue paid sick hours at all, and at what rate. Does an unused balance carry over. Is anything paid out at separation. Is leave available during a probationary period. With no accrual statute, those answers exist only where the employer writes them.
A Hawaii leave policy therefore has three moving parts to describe separately: the voluntary paid sick balance, the TDI claim process, and the health coverage obligations under the Prepaid Health Care Act. Collapsing them into one paragraph is how employees end up being told to claim from the wrong place. Keeping them distinct is what HR outsourcing does in Hawaii.
FMLA, remote-hire exposure and voluntary policy drafting: paid leave fundamentals.
For Hawaii specifically: nothing above is statutory in Hawaii, so your written policy is the enforceable rule, the wage floor those hours are paid at is $16.00, and below the federal 20-employee COBRA threshold Hawaii still requires continuation coverage for up to 3 months. HR outsourcing in Hawaii keeps that in the handbook and in payroll.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Hawaii require paid sick leave?
No. Hawaii has no statewide requirement for private employers, so whatever your handbook says is the enforceable rule, including on carryover and payout. Hours you do pay are paid at $16.00.
What pay rate applies to leave hours in Hawaii?
Minimum wage in Hawaii is $16.00. Overtime: Weekly over 40. Paid leave hours generally do not count toward the overtime threshold because they are not hours worked.
Does health coverage continue after separation in Hawaii?
Federal COBRA applies at 20 or more employees. Below that, Hawaii has its own continuation law, the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act - Continuation in case of inability to earn wages (disability continuation, not a true termination-based mini-COBRA), running up to 3 months (Haw. Rev. Stat. section 393-15 (Continuation of coverage in case of inability to earn wages), part of the Prepaid Health Care Act (HRS ch. 393)).
Does Hawaii run a paid family and medical leave programme?
No. Federal FMLA is the only family and medical leave floor in Hawaii: 12 workweeks, unpaid, at employers with 50 or more employees.
If Hawaii has no sick leave law, what covers an employee who is ill?
Temporary disability insurance. Hawaii requires employers to provide TDI coverage for non-work-related illness and injury, which pays partial wage replacement during a qualifying absence. It is insurance rather than an accrued balance, so the employee claims a benefit instead of drawing down hours, and it covers longer absences rather than a single day.
What is the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act?
A state law requiring employers to provide health coverage to employees who work 20 or more hours a week, with limits on the employee contribution. Hawaii is the only state with a requirement of that kind, and it predates the Affordable Care Act by decades. It is the single biggest difference between running payroll in Hawaii and running it anywhere else.
Does Hawaii require coverage to continue while an employee is off sick?
Yes. Haw. Rev. Stat. section 393-15 requires the employer to keep paying its pre-sickness share of the premium for an employee who is hospitalised or otherwise prevented by sickness from working, for up to three months after the month the absence began, or for as long as regular wages are paid if that is longer.
Does a Hawaii employer still need a written sick leave policy?
Yes, and for a specific reason. TDI is insurance for longer absences and it does not answer what happens on a one-day illness, whether hours accrue, whether they carry over or whether anything is paid out at separation. With no statute supplying those defaults, the handbook is the only place those answers exist.
Is this a PEO?
No. No co-employment and no employer-of-record change: your company stays the employer. HR outsourcing, powered by isolved.
Anthony leads HR outsourcing strategy at Business Executive Group, a national HR outsourcing firm serving employers across every state. BEG HR outsourcing is powered by isolved, with certified HR professionals building and maintaining state-correct leave policy as laws change.
Sources: Haw. Rev. Stat. section 393-15; Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Disability Compensation Division. Compare every state on paid sick leave by state. General leave information, not legal advice.
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