AbsentEase
Hawaii sick leave law & call-off rules
Hawaii never mandated sick-day accrual — it built an insurance system instead. Every employer must carry Temporary Disability Insurance: an employee off work with a non-work illness for more than seven days starts drawing 58% wage replacement on day eight, for up to 26 weeks. At 100+ employees the Hawaii Family Leave Law adds job-protected family leave. For attendance policy, week one is yours; week two belongs to the insurance system. Here is what applies in 2026.
Hawaii at a glance
| Accrued sick leave mandate | None — short absences are policy-governed |
|---|---|
| TDI (mandatory insurance) | 58% wage replacement from day 8 of a non-work illness, up to 26 weeks |
| HFLA | 4 weeks job-protected family leave at 100+ employees; 10 sick days may be applied |
| Final paycheck (fired) | At discharge — or the next working day at latest |
| PTO payout at termination | Policy controls (DLIR enforces promised payouts as wages) |
| Voting leave | Repealed — all-mail elections since 2019 |
| Meal & rest breaks | None for adults (16+) |
Is paid sick leave required in Hawaii?
No accrued sick leave — but mandatory disability insurance. Under HRS ch. 392, essentially every Hawaii employer must provide TDI (self-insured or via a state-approved plan, with up to 0.5% of wages deductible from employees): 58% of average weekly wages, starting the 8th consecutive day of a non-work illness or injury (pregnancy included), for up to 26 weeks. The Hawaii Family Leave Law (HRS ch. 398) adds 4 weeks of job-protected family leave at 100+ employees, toward which employees may elect up to 10 days of employer-provided sick leave. No county adds a sick-leave ordinance.
How TDI and the HFLA shape attendance policy
| TDI trigger | 7 consecutive days off for a non-work illness/injury → benefits from day 8, up to 26 weeks at 58% (annual state max) |
|---|---|
| TDI eligibility | ~14 weeks of Hawaii employment at 20+ hours/week and $400+ in wages |
| Claims | Medical certification (Form TDI-45) filed with the employer/carrier — a routing task, not an attendance judgment |
| HFLA (100+ employees) | 4 weeks/year job-protected family leave (birth, adoption, family serious illness; 2026 adds military exigency); employee may apply up to 10 days of accrued sick leave |
| Retaliation | HFLA interference/retaliation prohibited; HRS 378-32 bars discharge over work-injury comp claims |
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
FLSA overtime and attendance bonuses
A cash bonus promised in advance for good attendance counts as wages under federal overtime law. It has to be added into the regular rate for the weeks it covers, so any of those weeks over 40 hours owes extra overtime on the bonus, usually recalculated after the bonus is paid. State overtime law can add to this, but can't go below it. See how attendance bonuses change overtime pay.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Hawaii
Hawaii is at-will with statutory carve-outs (work-injury discharge bars, HFLA retaliation), and short-absence attendance policy is genuinely yours to write — no accrual mandate, no notes restrictions, no points statute. The design constraint is the seventh day: an illness absence that crosses a week stops being an attendance event and becomes a TDI claim, with a medical certification and wage replacement handled through your carrier — pointing an employee for a certified TDI absence converts an insurance routine into a retaliation dispute. At 100+ employees, the HFLA adds a protected family-leave lane that accrued sick days can partially fund. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system that tracks consecutive days out is what flags the day-7 handoff before a supervisor mishandles it.
After a no call, no show termination in Hawaii
| Does Hawaii law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment or sets a consecutive-days no-show threshold; it is set by employer policy. (DLIR's wage page treats job abandonment as an employee-initiated quit for final-pay timing under § 388-3(b).) (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 383-30(1)-(2); Haw. Admin. R. §§ 12-5-47(b)-(c), 12-5-51(a), (c), (e)(1)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | When the employer discharges an employee, with or without cause, wages are due in full at the time of discharge; if the discharge occurs at a time and under conditions that prevent immediate payment, then not later than the working day following discharge. (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 388-3(a)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | When an employee quits or resigns, wages are due no later than the next regular payday (as set under § 388-2), through regular pay channels or by mail if the employee requests; if the employee gives at least one pay period's notice of intention to quit, all wages are due at the time of quitting. A quit without notice therefore falls under the next-regular-payday rule. The DLIR Wage Standards Division's Unpaid Wages page files 'Job Abandonment' under this quit rule ('Quit (Resign, Job Abandonment - Employee Action)'). (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 388-3(b)) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | No state requirement; owed only if your written policy promises it. No Hawaii statute requires vacation payout; the Hawaii Supreme Court held that payment for unused vacation on separation is not 'wages' under § 388-1 (case note printed with §§ 388-1 and 388-3: 108 Haw. 411, 121 P.3d 391 (2005), Casumpang v. ILWU, Local 142), and DLIR states that paid vacation is not required by law and the employer's written or posted policy (required by § 388-7(3)) determines the criteria to earn and use it. (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 388-1 (definition of 'wages') and § 388-7(3); Casumpang v. ILWU, Local 142, 108 Haw. 411, 121 P.3d 391 (2005)) |
| Unemployment claims | A separation is a voluntary quit when the claimant is the 'moving party' (Haw. Admin. R. § 12-5-47(b)), disqualifying under HRS § 383-30(1) unless for good cause; a discharge is one where the employer is the moving party (§ 12-5-51(a)), and 'unexcused absence or recurring unexcused tardiness' is listed as a situation where misconduct may be found (§ 12-5-51(e)(1)) under HRS § 383-30(2). Disqualification lasts until the claimant earns five times the weekly benefit amount. |
If a state agency later treats a "resignation" as a discharge, the discharge deadline governs, so pay by the earlier of the two when in doubt. Document each step with the no call, no show write-up and termination letter templates, which fill in Hawaii's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits Hawaii
Start from our no call, no show policy guide and free template, or let the generator turn nine quick questions into a signature-ready policy with Hawaii already selected so the protected-leave section covers the federal FMLA and ADA rules that still apply here.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired | In full at the time of discharge — no later than the next working day if immediate payment isn't possible | HRS § 388-3 |
| Employee quits | Next regular payday — at quitting time if the employee gave a full pay period's notice | HRS § 388-3 |
| Unused vacation / PTO | Policy or agreement controls; a promised payout is enforceable as wages | DLIR guidance |
| Enforcement | DLIR Wage Standards Division (TDI: Disability Compensation Division) | — |
Hawaii's same-day/next-day discharge rule puts it in the fast tier with Utah and Massachusetts — final pay is part of the termination meeting. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Hawaii employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TDI | Yes — insurance | Mandatory at essentially every employer; premiums shareable with employees up to 0.5% of wages |
| HFLA family leave | Yes at 100+ employees | 4 weeks job-protected, after 6 months of service |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | Discharge or coercion is a petty misdemeanor; suit within 90 days for reinstatement and up to 6 weeks' wages |
| Voting | No | The 2-hour law was repealed with all-mail elections (2019) |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus Hawaii National Guard protections |
The Hawaii employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.