Workplace Protections

If you are entitled to unpaid leave under the law described above, and your employer refuses, you can sue your employer in a civil action. You can ask the court to allow you the protected leave and to order that your employer pay your attorney’s fees for the lawsuit.¹

Also, there are additional protections for someone who gets a subpoena or summons to testify in a civil or criminal case court case, such as a domestic violence case. The law says that an employer cannot fire you, threaten to fire you, or otherwise coerce you because you testify in court in response to a summons. If your employer fires or suspends you for testifying, you can sue the employer to get your job back, for up to six weeks of lost wages, and for your attorney’s fees if you win the case. However, the legal action must be filed within 90 days from the firing or suspension date. The employer may also be arrested and charged with a “petty misdemeanor” crime as well.²

¹ H.R.S. § 378-72(j)
² H.R.S. § 621-10.5