#Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

Maui Economic Opportunity will be suspending a three-decade-old on-the-job training program for Maui County kupuna on June 30 after receiving notification Monday that its contract had been terminated due to the uncertainty of federal funding.

House Democrats celebrated the successful advancement of the 2025 House Majority Package on Wednesday, with all seven bills now either passing final reading in both legislative chambers, adopted through companion legislation, or funded through the state budget. All measures now await the governor’s signature. 

The Hawaiʻi State Legislature has passed House Bill 477, advancing efforts to modernize the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system. The bill aims to streamline interactions for both claimants and employers, while laying the groundwork for long-overdue improvements to the system.

The Maui County Council has approved a resolution for a time extension — to May 2029 — for completion of the Kuʻikahi Village project, now apparently scaled back from its original plans. According to information presented to council members, the project was originally designed as a 202-unit workforce housing development mauka of Honoapiʻilani Highway and […]

The Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means committees have recommended passage of a House bill that would put into state law fire safety recommendations arising from a Hawaiʻi Attorney General investigation of the August 2023 Maui wildfire disaster. The bill has passed second reading and moves on to third reading in the Senate. House Bill […]

Members of the Maui County Council’s Water and Infrastructure Committee have recommended full Council passage of a bill to establish, administratively, a process to expand regulated special flood hazard areas in the Maui County Code. Bill 28 would allow additional flood-prone areas to be included in special flood hazard areas for flood insurance purposes. According […]

The Hawaiʻi House of Representatives has approved all seven bills in the House Majority Package on third reading ahead of the first crossover deadline on Thursday. The bills move on to the Senate for further consideration. 

Bills have been referred to committees in both chambers of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to limit the amount landlords can raise rents for tenants at a time of desperate housing shortages and renters having few, if any, options if they can’t afford demands for higher monthly rent payments.

Starting Oct. 7, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will implement additional tools for employers into the State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES), in partnership with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and the US Department of Labor.

Former state legislator and lawyer Dwight Takamine has been appointed to the Hawaiʻi Labor Relations Board. Takamine will succeed Marcus Oshiro, who was serving as Board chairperson.

This funding will be used to support Hawaiʻi’s teacher workforce by creating the first statewide registered apprenticeship program for K-12 teachers. The program will enable approximately 142 aspiring educators to ‘earn and learn’ while obtaining their bachelor’s degrees at no cost, avoiding student loans.

On Tuesday night, State legislators approved a final version of the State’s Supplemental Budget. This measure includes operating, capital improvement projects (CIP), and grants-in-aid monies for fiscal year 2024-2025 (FY25).

Four virtual informational sessions will be held this week for Maui nonprofits and other organizations interested in becoming a host site for a grant funded jobs program for workers dislocated by the wildfires.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations today announced the availability of a disaster recovery jobs portal for Maui to help workers and businesses impacted by the wildfires. The portal provides access to all currently available jobs on Maui as maintained by the DLIR. 

Hale Makua is currently accepting applications for its new Food Service Summer Internship. The program runs for six to eight weeks through July 2023, and interns will receive a $2,000 stipend upon successful completion. Applications will be accepted until June 16.

In-person services for general unemployment insurance claims as well as for employer services will be available from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays on a first come, first served basis, starting this Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

The state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations announced it will start accepting telephone appointments for complex, disputed unemployment insurance claims beginning on Aug. 16, 2021 to allow claimants to schedule slots beginning on Aug. 23, 2021.

Hawai‘i residents currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits will again be required to prove they are searching for work. Gov. David Ige and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced the job search requirement that was suspended during the pandemic, will be reinstated starting May 30, 2021.

The Department of Labor & Industrial Relations is working with other states and the US Department of Labor to fight fraud and stop scammers. The DLIR reports that it does not have any social media accounts except Twitter and the only portal for unemployment insurance benefits is at https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/#/

Although the U.S. DOL projected that many states would need until the middle of April or later to implement the new provisions and begin notifying individuals, the department notes there will be no lag in benefits for most claimants as long as they remain eligible for benefits.