Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 12 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS › Subtitle 8 - HAWAII OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH DIVISION › Part 1 - GENERAL, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Chapter 51 - INSPECTIONS, CITATIONS, AND PROPOSED PENALTIES › Section 12-51-11 - Complaints by employees

Current through June,
				  2024
(a) Any employee or
				  their designated representative who believes that a violation of the law exists
				  in any workplace where the employee is employed may request an inspection of
				  the workplace by giving notice of the alleged violation to the director, the
				  administrator, or to a safety and health compliance officer. The notice shall
				  be written and state with reasonable particularity, the grounds for the
				  inspection. It shall be signed by the employee or their designated
				  representative. A copy shall be provided to the employer or to the employer's
				  agent by the director, the administrator, or a safety and health compliance
				  officer no later than at the time of inspection, except the complainant's name
				  and the names of individual employees shall not appear on any record published,
				  released, or made available by the department. In case of imminent danger
				  situations, a phone call shall be sufficient to initiate inspection activity.
				  In other cases, phone calls shall not be regarded as official complaints and
				  may or may not be acted upon, at the discretion of the director.
(b) If, upon receipt of notification, the
				  director determines that the notice meets the requirements in subsection (a)
				  above and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged violation
				  exists, the director shall cause an inspection to be made as soon as
				  practicable to determine if the alleged violation exists. Inspections made
				  pursuant to this section shall not be limited only to matters in the
				  complaint.
(c) Prior to or during
				  any inspection of a workplace, any employee or designated representative of the
				  employees employed in that workplace may notify the safety and health
				  compliance officer in writing of any violation of the law which they have
				  reason to believe exists in the workplace. Any notice shall comply with
				  subsection (a) above.
(d) Any
				  employee who believes that he or she has been unfairly discharged, suspended,
				  or refused pay for time spent engaged in inspection related activities, or
				  otherwise discriminated against by the employer for reasons relating to the
				  employee's exercising of rights under the law, such as refusal to engage in
				  unsafe work situations or for the filing of a complaint in accordance with
				  subsection (a) above, may, within sixty days of the alleged act of
				  discrimination, file a complaint, setting forth in detail the circumstances,
				  with the department.
(1) Upon receipt of a
				  complaint, the department shall investigate, and if discrimination in violation
				  of chapter
				  396, HRS, is found, shall initiate
				  appropriate action against the employer.
(2) The director may extend the sixty day
				  filing period on recognized equitable principles (i.e., where the employer has
				  concealed, or misled the employee regarding the grounds for discharge or other
				  adverse action) or where the discrimination is in the nature of a continuing
				  violation.
(3) The pendency of a
				  grievance-arbitration proceeding or filing with another agency, among others,
				  are unqualifying circumstances to extend the sixty-day filing period.