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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
There is no one federal law that specifically addresses employment applications, although there are record retention guidelines under a variety of federal laws (see the Recordkeeping topic) and non-discrimination provisions for hiring in general (see the Discrimination topic).
Hawaii law provides that an employer may consider an individual’s criminal record in regard to hiring, termination and other terms of employment so long as the conviction is reasonably related to the job duties of the position. An employer may only ask a job applicant about convictions after a conditional job offer has been extended. The offer may be withdrawn if the applicant has a conviction which relates to the position. Only the conviction record within the last ten years will be considered. There are exceptions to this law allowed for public employers and some private employers such as detective agencies and financial institutions. §378-2.5
An employer can not require an employee or job applicant to pay a job application processing fee. §388-51
Salary history inquiries
Effective January 1, 2019, employers with at least one employee in Hawaii may not inquire about a job applicant’s salary history, including wages, benefits, or other compensation. In the event that an applicant’s salary history is inadvertently disclosed with a background check, an employer may not consider that information in hiring; however, if an applicant discloses the information “voluntarily and without prompting,” the employer may use the information to determine compensation. Inquiries regarding salary expectations and “objective measure(s) of the applicant’s productivity, such as revenue, sales, or other production reports” are allowed.
State
Contact
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
Regulations
Haw. Rev. Stat. §378-2.5
Haw. Rev. Stat. §388-51
Federal
Contacts
None.
Regulations
None.