Hawaii Wage Laws: Minimum Wage, Paychecks, and Remedies

Hawaii wage laws set a $16.00 per hour minimum wage starting January 1, 2026, require overtime pay after 40 hours in a workweek, mandate at least two paydays per month, and give underpaid workers the right to recover double their unpaid wages plus interest. The rules also sharply limit what an employer can take out of your paycheck, even with your written permission.

The Minimum Wage in 2026 and Beyond

Under Act 114, signed in 2022, Hawaii’s minimum wage climbs on a fixed schedule: $14.00 per hour from January 1, 2024, $16.00 per hour from January 1, 2026, and $18.00 per hour from January 1, 2028.¹ Every employer in the state must pay at least these rates. There is no small-business exception and no seasonal carve-out.

Hawaii also does not allow the federal subminimum wage for workers under 20 during their first 90 days. Every worker gets the full state rate from day one, regardless of age or experience.

Tipped Workers

Employers of tipped workers can take a tip credit against the minimum wage. The credit is $1.25 per hour from January 1, 2024, rising to $1.50 per hour on January 1, 2028.² In 2026, that means a tipped employee can be paid as little as $14.75 per hour in direct wages.

The credit comes with a condition. The employee’s combined wages and tips must exceed the applicable minimum wage by at least $7.00 per hour, which works out to $23.00 per hour in total compensation in 2026.² If tips fall short, the employer has to make up the difference.

Overtime Pay

Overtime kicks in after 40 hours worked in a single workweek, paid at one and a half times the employee’s regular rate.³ Hawaii does not require daily overtime for working more than eight hours in a day. The weekly total is what counts.

The regular rate used for the overtime calculation includes all forms of compensation, not just base hourly pay. Commissions, nondiscretionary bonuses, and piecework earnings all have to be rolled in.³ An employer who computes overtime using only the hourly rate will underpay.

Who Isn’t Covered

Several categories of workers fall outside Hawaii’s minimum wage and overtime protections under HRS 387-1:⁴

Employees with guaranteed monthly compensation of $2,000 or more.
Bona fide executive, administrative, supervisory, professional, and outside salesperson roles.
Agricultural workers on farms with fewer than 20 employees, and workers engaged in coffee harvesting.
Casual domestic workers and companions for the elderly or infirm.
Workers employed by a parent, spouse, sibling, or child.

The white-collar exemptions carry salary floors. Hawaii’s administrative rules set a minimum of $210 per week for executive, administrative, and professional employees, but the federal threshold of $684 per week ($35,568 annually) is higher and applies to most employers. In practice, an employer subject to both laws has to meet the federal number to classify someone as exempt.

How Often You Must Be Paid

Employers must pay all wages at least twice per calendar month on regular paydays set in advance, with each paycheck due within seven days after the end of the pay period.⁵ If a pay period closes on a Friday, payment is due by the following Friday.

The Director of Labor and Industrial Relations can grant permission to pay less frequently, but never less than once a month, and can extend the seven-day payment window to as many as 15 days.⁵ Payment can be made by check, direct deposit to a federally insured account, or cash. With direct deposit, funds must be available on or before payday.

Your Final Paycheck

The deadline for your last check depends on how your job ended. The timing matters because employers who miss these deadlines face penalty liability.

If you are fired or discharged, all wages are due at the time of discharge. If that is not practical, the deadline moves to the next working day.⁶
If you resign and give at least one pay period’s notice, all earned wages are due at the time you quit.⁶
If you resign without that much notice, wages are due by the next regular payday, and you can ask to be paid by mail.⁶
If you are laid off or suspended, wages earned through that date are due by the next regular payday.⁶

A fired employee can demand immediate payment. A laid-off employee has to wait until the next regular payday. If you are let go unexpectedly and told to wait for the next cycle, you do not have to accept that.

What Can Be Deducted From Your Paycheck

HRS 388-6 bars employers from deducting anything from your wages unless the deduction is required by federal or state law, ordered by a court, or authorized by you in writing.⁷ Tax withholdings, Social Security, and court-ordered garnishments fall into the first category and need no separate consent.

Written authorization has limits. Even with your signature, an employer cannot deduct for:⁷

Workplace fines of any kind.
Cash register shortages in a shared till, or shortages in a solo till unless you were given a chance to count the money at the start and end of your shift.
Breakage, damaged tools, or replacement uniforms.
Bad checks you had discretion to accept or refuse.
Faulty workmanship, stolen property, property damage, customer defaults, or unpaid customer bills, unless the loss resulted from your intentional misconduct.
The cost of any physical exam or medical report the employer required.

The intentional misconduct exception is narrow. If an employee admits to deliberately damaging property, the employer can deduct the cost with written authorization, but the deduction cannot drop the employee’s effective wage below the minimum wage.⁸ Accidents, poor performance, and honest mistakes do not qualify, no matter what the handbook says.

If You Haven’t Been Paid What You’re Owed

You have two routes: a complaint with the state, or a lawsuit. Either way, the damages Hawaii law allows are substantial.

Filing a Complaint

The Wage Standards Division of the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations accepts written, signed complaints from underpaid workers.⁹ You do not need an appointment. A specialist conducts a preliminary interview, and if there appears to be a violation, you fill out a formal complaint for investigation.

What You Can Recover

An employer who fails to pay wages without a valid justification owes you the full amount of unpaid wages, plus an equal sum as a penalty, plus 6 percent interest per year from the date the wages were due.¹⁰ A worker owed $5,000 can recover roughly $10,000 plus interest.

Nonpayment of wages under Chapter 388 is also a Class C felony, carrying a fine of not less than $500 per violation, with each separate instance counting as its own offense. Corporate officers who knowingly permit the violation face the same charge.¹⁰

Retaliation against workers who complain or participate in wage proceedings carries its own penalty: a fine between $100 and $10,000, up to a year in prison, or both.¹⁰ Firing someone for raising a wage complaint is a criminal offense in Hawaii, not just a civil wrong.

How Long You Have

Hawaii’s general six-year statute of limitations for contract claims covers wage disputes.¹¹ A parallel federal claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act runs two years, or three if the violation was willful. Pay records and witness memories fade long before the legal deadline, so acting early matters even when the clock has not run out.

1
State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage and Overtime
2
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The State of Hawaii Data Book 2021
3
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 387-3 – Maximum Hours
4
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 387-1 – Definitions
5
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 388-2 – Semimonthly Payday; Method of Payment of Wages
6
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 388-3 – Employees Who Are Separated from the Payroll Before Paydays
7
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 388-6 – Withholding of Wages
8
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Unpaid Wages – Hawaii Wage Standards Division
9
State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Filing a Complaint with Wage Standards Division
10
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 388-10 – Penalties
11
Justia Law. Hawaii Code 657-1 – Six Years