Federal & State Regulations | Unemployment - Hawaii | J. J. Keller® Compliance Network

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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

Coverage

Hawaii state law covers employers of one or more workers at any time for any period of time.

Workers are considered employees unless:

The worker is free from control or direction in the performance of the work under the contract of service and in fact;
The service is performed either outside the usual course of the business for which it is performed or is performed outside of all places of business of the enterprise for which it is performed; and
The individual is customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession, or business.

Exclusions from the definition of employment include:

Insurance agents on commission,
Real estate agents on commission,
Casual labor not in the course of employers business, and
Part-time service for nonprofit organizations exempt from federal income tax.

The following student employment is excluded from coverage:

Student nurses and interns in employ of a hospital, and
Students working for schools.

The state does not exclude from coverage service by the spouse of a student when the spouse is employed by the school, college, or university.

All states exclude students in work-study programs; however, Hawaii excludes only elementary or secondary school students.

Under Hawaii coverage for officers of corporations, an individual will not be eligible for benefits if an owner-employee of a corporation brings about his/her unemployment by divesting ownership, leasing the business interest, terminating the business, or by other similar actions. Also, Hawaii rules exclude from coverage services for a family owned private corporation, organized for profit that employs family members who own at least 50 percent of the corporate shares provided certain criteria are met.

State coverage is required for services performed for religious, charitable, or educational nonprofit organizations. Although coverage is required only for those organizations employing four or more workers in 20 weeks, a number of states have provisions that cover smaller nonprofit organizations as well. Hawaii has expanded coverage provisions beyond federal requirements.