Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance: Eligibility, Benefits, and Claims

Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance replaces part of your paycheck when a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy keeps you from working. Benefits equal 58% of your average weekly wages, capped at $871 a week in 2026, and can last up to 26 weeks per disability.¹ Hawaii is one of the few states that requires this coverage, so if you work here for a private employer, you almost certainly have it. The program runs under Chapter 392 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and is administered by the Disability Compensation Division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR).

One boundary to note up front: TDI is only for conditions that are not work-related. If you were hurt on the job or got sick because of your work, that falls under workers’ compensation, not TDI.

Who Qualifies

You need to meet three employment thresholds during the 52 weeks before your disability begins. You must have worked in Hawaii for at least 14 weeks, put in 20 or more hours in each of those weeks, and earned at least $400 in total wages.² The disability itself has to be certified by a licensed physician.

Some jobs sit outside the program entirely. Federal government employees are covered by separate federal programs. Domestic workers earning less than $225 per quarter are excluded, as are commission-only insurance agents and real estate salespersons who receive no base wages. Work performed for a spouse, parent, or a child under 21 is excluded. Student nurses, interns, and minors delivering newspapers are also outside the program. Section 392-5 has the full list.³ If you’re unsure how your job is classified, the Disability Compensation Division can tell you.

What You’ll Be Paid

Your weekly benefit is 58% of your average weekly wages, rounded up to the next whole dollar.⁴ For 2026, the maximum benefit is $871 per week, which corresponds to a wage base of $1,500.21 a week; earnings above that base don’t count toward the calculation.¹

There’s one wrinkle at the bottom end. If your average weekly wage is below $26, your benefit equals your full average weekly wage but can’t exceed $14.⁴

The Seven-Day Waiting Period

Payments don’t start on day one. There’s a seven-day waiting period, and benefits begin on the eighth consecutive day of your disability. If the same condition recurs within two weeks of an earlier episode, the episodes are treated as one period of disability, so you only serve the waiting period once.⁵

How Long Benefits Last

Under the statutory plan, benefits continue for up to 26 weeks per disability.⁶ Some employers offer enhanced plans that stretch the duration or raise the percentage; no plan is allowed to pay less than the statutory minimum.

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Pregnancy is explicitly covered as a qualifying disability.⁶ If your physician certifies that you can’t work because of pregnancy or recovery from childbirth, you receive the same benefits as anyone else out on a temporary disability. The 26-week cap and the seven-day waiting period apply the same way, and how long you actually collect turns on your physician’s certification.

Filing Your Claim

File within 90 days of the date your disability begins.⁷ Don’t sit on the deadline even if you expect a short absence, because missing it can cost you the benefits.

Start by asking your treating physician for a disability certification that spells out your condition and how long you’re expected to be out. Then complete a Claim for Disability Benefits form (Form TDI-45) and submit it to your employer.⁸ The form isn’t available for download. Get a copy from your employer; if your employer doesn’t have one, call the Disability Compensation Division. Have a recent pay stub in hand so you can give your employer’s full legal name as it’s printed there.

Your employer processes the claim once it has the form and the physician’s certification, and payments start from there. Keep copies of everything. If your recovery takes longer than the original certification, you’ll need updated medical documentation to keep benefits flowing.

What You Pay Into the Program

Employers can cover the full cost of TDI or share it with employees. When it’s shared, your contribution can’t exceed 0.5% of your weekly wages, and for 2026 the deduction is capped at $7.50 per week.¹ Employers can’t take contributions out of the pay of workers who don’t meet the eligibility rules in Section 392-25.

The split matters at tax time. The share of premiums you pay from your own wages generally makes the corresponding benefits non-taxable for federal income tax purposes, while benefits funded entirely by your employer are generally taxable income. Your pay stubs will show who’s paying, and a tax professional can help if you collect benefits during the year.

Your Health Insurance While You’re Out

Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act adds a layer most states don’t have. Once you become disabled, your employer must keep paying its share of your health insurance premiums for up to three months beyond the month the disability began, or for as long as it continues paying your regular wages, whichever is longer.⁹ You still owe your share of the premium during that time. If you stop paying it, your coverage can be canceled.

If Your Claim Is Denied

You have 20 calendar days from the mailing date of the denial notice to appeal.⁶ Notice the clock starts when the notice was mailed, not when you opened the envelope, so move quickly.

Write a statement explaining why you disagree with the decision and send two copies to the Disability Compensation Division in Honolulu or the nearest DLIR district office. An impartial referee will schedule a hearing where you and your employer can present evidence and testimony, then issue a written decision. If either side disagrees with the referee, further appeal runs to the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board. The procedures are in Sections 392-71 through 392-73.¹⁰

How TDI Interacts With Other Benefits

TDI is set up to avoid stacking payments on top of other disability income. If you’re already collecting workers’ compensation or Social Security Disability Insurance, your TDI benefit may be reduced so the combined total doesn’t exceed what you earned before you became disabled. Disclose any other disability benefits when you file, so your employer can adjust the payments and avoid an overpayment you’d later have to return.

TDI is also separate from the Hawaii Family Leave Law, which offers up to four weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family reasons. If you qualify under both, TDI handles the wage replacement while the family leave law handles job protection. If you qualify for family leave but not TDI, the leave will generally be unpaid unless you use accrued sick or vacation time.¹¹

1
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. 2026 Maximum Weekly Wage Base and Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount
2
Justia. Hawaii Code 392-25 – Eligibility for Benefits
3
Justia. Hawaii Code 392-5 – Excluded Services
4
Justia. Hawaii Code 392-22 – Weekly Benefit Amount
5
Justia. Hawaii Code 392-24 – Waiting Period
6
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. About Temporary Disability Insurance
7
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Disability Compensation Law
8
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Temporary Disability Insurance – TDI
9
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Frequently Asked Questions about Prepaid Health Care
10
Justia. Hawaii Code Chapter 392 – Temporary Disability Insurance
11
Wage Standards Division, State of Hawaii. Hawaii Family Leave