General Provisions

HRS div. 1, tit. 9, ch. 104, pt. I

in effect

HRS §104-1 Definitions

104-1. Definitions As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings: "Basic hourly rate" means the hourly wage paid to a laborer or mechanic for work performed during nonovertime hours, but shall not include the cost to an employer of furnishing fringe benefits, whether paid directly or indirectly to the laborer or mechanic as provided in the definition of "wages". "Construction" includes alteration, repair, painting, and decorating. "Contractor" means any person furnishing construction for a public work under a contract with a governmental contracting agency, subcontractor, or any other person under a subcontract arrangement with any person who has a construction contract subject to this chapter. "Department" means the department of labor and industrial relations. "Director" means the director of labor and industrial relations of the State. "Governmental contracting agency" means the State, any county and any officer, bureau, board, commission, or other agency or instrumentality thereof. "Overtime compensation" means compensation based on not less than one and one-half times the laborers or mechanics basic hourly rate of pay plus the cost to an employer of furnishing a laborer or mechanic with fringe benefits as described in the definition of "wages"; provided that if the department determines that a prevailing wage is defined by a collective bargaining agreement, the overtime compensation shall be at the rates set by the applicable collective bargaining agreement. "Public work" means any project, including development of any housing pursuant to section 46-15 or chapter 201H and development, construction, renovation, and maintenance related to refurbishment of any real or personal property, where the funds or resources required or used to undertake the project are to any extent derived, either directly or indirectly, from public revenues of the State or any county, or from the sale of securities or bonds whose interest or dividends are exempt from state or federal taxes. "Wages", "rate of wages", "wage rates", "minimum wages" and "prevailing wages" mean the basic hourly rate and the cost to an employer of furnishing a laborer or mechanic with fringe benefits, including but not limited to health and welfare benefits, vacation benefits, and pension benefits, whether paid directly or indirectly to the laborer or mechanic. [L 1955, c 133, pt of §2; RL 1955, §9A-1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §38; am L 1963, c 44, §1; HRS §104-1; am L 1987, c 288, §2; am L 1988, c 141, §11; am L 1995, c 181, §3; am L 2014, c 130, §2; am L 2015, c 165, §1; am L 2019, c 191, §1]

HRS §104-2 Applicability; wages, hours, and other requirements

104-2. Applicability; wages, hours, and other requirements (a) This chapter shall apply to every contract in excess of $2,000 for construction of a public work project to which a governmental contracting agency is a party; provided that this chapter shall not apply to experimental and demonstration housing developed pursuant to section 46-15 or housing developed pursuant to chapter 201H if the cost of the project is less than $500,000 and the eligible bidder or eligible developer is a private nonprofit corporation. For the purposes of this subsection: "Contract" includes but is not limited to any agreement, purchase order, or voucher in excess of $2,000 for construction of a public work project. "Governmental contracting agency" includes: (1) Any person or entity that causes either directly or indirectly the building or development of a public work; and (2) Any public-private partnership. "Party" includes eligible bidders for and eligible developers of any public work and any housing under chapter 201H; provided that this subsection shall not apply to any housing developed under section 46-15 or chapter 201H if the entire cost of the project is less than $500,000 and the eligible bidder or eligible developer is a private nonprofit corporation. (b) Every laborer and mechanic performing work on the job site for the construction of any public work project shall be paid no less than prevailing wages; provided that: (1) The prevailing wages shall be established by the director as the sum of the basic hourly rate and the cost to an employer of providing a laborer or mechanic with fringe benefits. In making prevailing wage determinations, the following shall apply: (A) The director shall make separate findings of: (i) The basic hourly rate; and (ii) The rate of contribution or cost of fringe benefits paid by the employer when the payment of the fringe benefits by the employer constitutes a prevailing practice. The cost of fringe benefits shall be reflected in the wage rate scheduled as an hourly rate; and (B) The rates of wages which the director shall regard as prevailing in each corresponding classification of laborers and mechanics shall be the rate of wages paid to the greatest number of those employed in the State, the modal rate, in the corresponding classes of laborers or mechanics on projects that are similar to the contract work; (2) [Repeal and reenactment on June 30, 2030. L 2018, c 39, §4.] Except for the project prevailing wages established by subsections (h) and (i), the prevailing wages shall be not less than the wages payable under federal law to corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on public works projects in the State that are prosecuted under contract or agreement with the government of the United States; and (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of the original contract, the prevailing wages shall be periodically adjusted during the performance of the contract in an amount equal to the change in the prevailing wage as periodically determined by the director. (c) No laborer or mechanic employed on the job site of any public work of the State or any political subdivision thereof shall be permitted or required to work on Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday of the State or in excess of eight hours on any other day unless the laborer or mechanic receives overtime compensation for all hours worked on Saturday, Sunday, and a legal holiday of the State or in excess of eight hours on any other day. The rate for overtime compensation and any other premium rates of pay shall be those rates specified in an applicable collective bargaining agreement when the basic hourly rate is established by a collective bargaining agreement. For purposes of determining overtime compensation under this subsection, the basic hourly rate of any laborer or mechanic shall not be less than the basic hourly rate determined by the director to be the prevailing basic hourly rate for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics on projects of similar character in the State. (d) The contractor or the contractor's subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers employed on the job site, unconditionally and not less often than once a week, and without deduction or rebate on any account, except as allowed by law, the full amounts of their wages including overtime, accrued to not more than five working days prior to the time of payment, at wage rates not less than those deemed to be prevailing, regardless of any contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the contractor or subcontractor and the laborers and mechanics. The rates of wages to be paid shall be posted by the contractor in a prominent and easily accessible place at the job site, and a copy of the rates of wages required to be posted shall be given to each laborer and mechanic employed under the contract by the contractor at the time each laborer and mechanic is employed, except that where there is a collective bargaining agreement the contractor does not have to provide the contractor's employees the wage rate schedules. (e) The governmental contracting agency may withhold from the contractor so much of the accrued payments as the governmental contracting agency may consider necessary to pay to the laborers and mechanics employed by the contractor or any subcontractor on the job site the difference between the prevailing wages and the wages received and not refunded by the laborers and mechanics. (f) Every contract in excess of $2,000 for construction of a public work project and the specifications for such contract shall include provisions that set forth the requirements of subsections (a) to (e); provided that failure by the contracting agency to include those provisions in the contract or specifications shall not be a defense of the contractor or subcontractor for noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter. (g) [Repeal and reenactment on June 30, 2030. L 2018, c 39, §4.] For any public work project that is subject to this chapter but not directly caused by a governmental contracting agency, the director shall be responsible for enforcement of this chapter, including the collection and maintenance of certified copies of all payrolls that are subject to this chapter. (h) When: (1) The department of budget and finance enters a project agreement with a project party, as those terms are defined in chapter 39A, to finance or refinance a project with the proceeds of special purpose revenue bonds; (2) The project party has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with a bona fide labor union governing the project party's workforce; and (3) The collective bargaining agreement has been properly submitted to the director under section 104-34, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and associated provisions shall be deemed the prevailing wages and terms serving as the basis of compliance with this chapter for work on the project by the project party's workforce; provided that this subsection does not affect the director's enforcement powers contained in subsection (g). (i) [Repealed June 30, 2030. L 2018, c 39, §4.] The terms of section 201H-36(a)(5) prevailing wages shall be deemed the prevailing wages serving as the basis of compliance with this chapter for work on the project when:

HRS §104-2.5 Public work requirements; private construction contracts

104-2.5. Public work requirements; private construction contracts (a) Section 104-2 notwithstanding, for purposes of this chapter, public work shall also include a construction contract between private persons if more than fifty per cent of the assignable square feet of a project is leased or assigned for use by the State, any county, or any agency of the State or any county, whether or not the property is privately owned, and: (1) The lease or other agreement is entered into prior to the construction contract becoming effective; or (2) Construction work is performed according to a plan, specifications, or criteria established by the State, any county, or any agency of the State or any county. (b) Prior to the start of construction on a project, the construction project owner shall sign a lease or other agreement with the governmental leasing agency or the governmental agency accepting the construction project for its use to certify the construction project owner's compliance with this chapter, including payment of prevailing wages. (c) Copies of the lease or other agreement under subsection (b) shall be filed with the department and the department of accounting and general services. The construction project owner shall submit weekly certified payrolls to the governmental leasing agency or the governmental agency accepting the construction project for its use, which shall be the governmental contracting agency for the construction project. [L 2007, c 62, §1]

HRS §104-2.7 Provisions of law; waiver

104-2.7. Provisions of law; waiver No provision of this chapter may in any way be contravened or set aside by private contract. Note Section applies to all contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2014. L 2014, c 130, §9. L 2014, c 130, §1

HRS §104-3 Payrolls and payroll records

104-3. Payrolls and payroll records (a) Every contract subject to this chapter and the specifications for those contracts shall contain a provision that a certified copy of all payrolls and a certified copy of a fringe benefit reporting form supplied by the department or any certified form that contains all of the required fringe benefit information shall be submitted weekly to the governmental contracting agency for review. The fringe benefit reporting form shall itemize the cost of fringe benefits paid by the general contractor or subcontractor for: (1) Health and welfare benefits; (2) Pension and annuity benefits; (3) Vacation benefits; (4) Continuing education and training benefits; and (5) Other fringe benefit costs paid by the general contractor or subcontractor. The general contractor shall be responsible for the submission of certified copies of the payrolls of all subcontractors. The certification shall affirm that the payrolls are correct and complete, that the wage rates contained therein are not less than the applicable rates contained in the wage determination decision of the director of labor and industrial relations attached to the contract, and that the classifications set forth for each laborer or mechanic conform with the work the laborer or mechanic performed. Any certification discrepancy found by the contracting agency shall be reported to the general contractor and the director to effect compliance. (b) Payroll records for all laborers and mechanics working at the site of the work shall be maintained by the general contractor and the general contractor's subcontractors, if any, during the course of the work and preserved for a period of three years thereafter. The records shall contain the name of each employee, the employee's correct classification, rate of pay, the itemized fringe benefit reporting form pursuant to subsection (a), daily and weekly number of hours worked, deductions made, and actual wages paid. (c) The contractor shall make payroll records available for examination within ten days from the date of a written request by a governmental contracting agency, director, or any authorized representatives thereof. Any contractor who: (1) Fails to make payroll records accessible within ten days; (2) Fails to provide information requested for the proper enforcement of this chapter within ten days; or (3) Fails to keep or falsifies any record required under this chapter, shall be assessed a penalty as provided in section 104-22(b). [L 1959, c 167, §1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §27; Supp, §9A-2.5; HRS §104-3; gen ch 1985; am L 1998, c 280, §1; am L Sp 2009, c 10, §1]

HRS §104-4 Termination of work on failure to pay agreed wages; completion of work; contract and specifications provision

104-4. Termination of work on failure to pay agreed wages; completion of work; contract and specifications provision Every contract and the specifications for such contract shall contain a provision that if the governmental contracting agency finds that any laborer or mechanic employed on the job site by the contractor or any subcontractor has been or is being paid wages at a rate less than the required rate by the contract or the specifications, or has not received the laborer's or mechanic's full overtime compensation, the governmental contracting agency may, by written notice to the contractor, terminate the contractor's right, or the right of any subcontractor, to proceed with the work or with the part of the work in which the required wages or overtime compensation have not been paid and may complete such work or part by contract or otherwise, and the contractor and the contractor's sureties shall be liable to the governmental contracting agency for any excess costs occasioned thereby. [L 1955, c 133, pt of §2; RL 1955, §9A-3; HRS §104-4; gen ch 1985]

Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0104/HRS_0104-.htmFetched: 11/10/2026