Family and Medical Leave Act in Hawaii: FMLA, HFLL, and TDI

If you work in Hawaii and need time off for a health or family reason, the Family and Medical Leave Act in Hawaii operates as two overlapping protections: the federal FMLA gives you up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, and the Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL) adds up to 4 weeks. They run at the same time when both apply, so you don’t get 16 weeks by stacking them. The single most important difference is that the state law does not cover your own medical condition — only care for a family member — while federal FMLA covers both.¹

How the Federal and State Laws Fit Together

FMLA and HFLL are separate statutes with separate rules, and when a single absence qualifies under both, the weeks count against both entitlements at once.² Care for a parent with a serious health condition is the clearest example: the same four weeks come off your 12-week federal cap and your 4-week state cap simultaneously.

Where they part ways is what matters for planning. If you need surgery or are managing a chronic illness of your own, federal FMLA is your only source of protected leave; Hawaii’s regulation states that family leave for a serious health condition “shall not include the serious health condition of the employee.”¹ Going the other direction, if you need to care for a grandparent, sibling, or parent-in-law, only Hawaii’s law covers you, because FMLA family care leave is limited to spouses, children, and parents.³

Who Qualifies

Federal FMLA

You need to hit three marks: at least 12 months of employment with the employer (breaks of up to seven years generally still count), at least 1,250 hours worked during those 12 months, and a worksite where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.⁴ Private employers, public agencies, and schools that meet the size threshold are all covered.

Hawaii Family Leave Law

The state law applies to employers with at least 100 employees working 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year.⁵ That’s a higher size cutoff than FMLA, so at some mid-size Hawaii businesses you’ll have federal protection but no state protection.

The employee-side bar is lower, though. You only need six consecutive months on the job, and there is no minimum-hours requirement.⁵ That matters for part-time and casual workers who won’t reach 1,250 hours in a year.

What Counts as a Qualifying Reason

Federal FMLA gives you up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for any of the following:

Your own serious health condition that keeps you from doing your job.⁶
Care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.³
Bonding after a birth, adoption, or foster placement, used within 12 months.
Qualifying exigencies tied to a family member’s active-duty foreign deployment.

Hawaii’s law covers a narrower set of reasons: up to four weeks per calendar year for the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for a covered family member with a serious health condition.⁷ Again, your own condition doesn’t qualify under state law.

A “serious health condition” under either law generally means at least one overnight hospital stay, or continuing treatment by a provider with a period where the person can’t function normally.⁶ Pregnancy and prenatal care qualify, as do chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes that need periodic treatment. Common cold, flu, ear infections, and routine dental issues usually don’t.

Which Family Members Are Covered

This is the practical dividing line between the two laws. Federal FMLA limits family care leave to your spouse, child (biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild), and parent. Parents-in-law are explicitly excluded.⁸

Hawaii’s HFLL is much broader. It covers a spouse, child, reciprocal beneficiary, sibling (including step- and foster siblings), grandchild, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, parent-in-law, and legal guardian.² “Child” means any age, not just minors.⁷

Federal FMLA does recognize “in loco parentis” relationships, where someone acts in a parental role without a biological or legal tie. If you raised a niece or functioned as a parent to a stepchild you never formally adopted, you may qualify to take FMLA to care for them. The relevant factors are physical proximity, financial support, and a demonstrated parental bond.

Getting Paid During Leave

Neither statute requires your employer to pay you. Both protect the job; the paycheck is a separate question.

You can substitute accrued paid leave to keep income coming in. Under FMLA, you can choose to use accrued vacation, sick, or personal leave during the FMLA period, and the employer can require you to.⁸ Hawaii’s law works the same way, letting you substitute accrued paid leave during your four-week entitlement.⁵ Using paid leave doesn’t extend the protected period; those weeks still count.

Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance

If you’re out for your own medical condition, Hawaii TDI can replace part of your wages. TDI pays 58% of your average weekly wages up to a maximum of $871 per week in 2026, for up to 26 weeks, with benefits starting on the eighth day of disability (the first week is a waiting period).⁹ To qualify you need at least 14 weeks of Hawaii employment at 20 or more hours per week and at least $400 earned, all within the 52 weeks before your disability began.¹⁰ TDI covers non-work-related illness and injury, including pregnancy, and replaces only wages, not medical costs.

Hawaii does not have a paid family leave program. TDI pays only when you personally are disabled. If you’re taking leave to care for a sick relative, your income options are accrued paid leave or private short-term disability coverage you bought yourself.

Health Insurance and Job Reinstatement

Under FMLA, your employer must keep your group health insurance in place during leave at the same level and terms as while you were working.¹¹ Your share of the premium still applies, so set up a payment method before you go out. If you don’t return and the reason isn’t a continuing serious health condition or something outside your control, the employer can recover premiums it paid on your behalf.

When you return, you’re entitled to your same position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, schedule, location, and working conditions.¹¹ Hawaii’s HFLL gives the same reinstatement guarantee. The one practical carve-out: if a legitimate layoff eliminated your position while you were out, the employer isn’t required to hold a job that no longer exists.

Neither law lets an employer count protected leave against you in performance reviews, promotion decisions, or attendance policies. A narrow FMLA exception exists for “key employees” — salaried employees in the top 10% of earners within 75 miles — whose reinstatement can be denied if it would cause substantial and grievous economic injury to the business, but only if the employer gave written notice of the classification when leave was requested.¹²

Notice, Certification, and Intermittent Leave

When your need for leave is foreseeable, give the employer at least 30 days’ advance notice.¹³ For emergencies, notify the same day or the next business day.¹⁴ You don’t have to invoke “FMLA” by name; you just need to give enough information for the employer to recognize the absence may qualify.

For medical certification under FMLA, the standard forms are WH-380-E (your own condition) and WH-380-F (a family member’s condition), filled out by the healthcare provider.¹⁵ The form doesn’t require a specific diagnosis, just a description of the relevant medical facts, the expected duration, and why the condition prevents work or requires your care. Check the forms for blank fields before submitting, keep copies, and note the date you turned them in.

Intermittent leave — taking your protected time in smaller pieces or on a reduced schedule — is available under FMLA when medically necessary for a serious health condition.³ Employers track it in increments no larger than one hour, and only the time you actually miss counts against your 12 weeks.¹⁶ Leave two hours early for an appointment, lose two hours. For planned intermittent treatment, the employer can temporarily transfer you to an equivalent-pay position that better accommodates the recurring absences. Bonding leave after a birth or adoption is generally taken in one continuous block unless the employer agrees otherwise.

Military Family Leave

Two additional FMLA categories are worth flagging given Hawaii’s military presence. Qualifying exigency leave gives up to 12 weeks when a spouse, parent, or child is deployed (or notified of impending deployment) to a foreign country, covering practical needs like childcare arrangements and pre-deployment legal and financial matters.¹⁷ Military caregiver leave allows up to 26 weeks in a single 12-month period to care for a servicemember with a serious injury or illness, with that 26 weeks including any other FMLA leave used in the same period.¹⁸ Eligible caregivers include the servicemember’s spouse, child, parent, or next of kin.

If the Employer Violates Your Rights

For federal FMLA violations — denied leave, retaliation, or failure to reinstate — you can recover lost wages and benefits, interest, and an equal amount in liquidated damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs if you win.¹⁹ Liquidated damages can be avoided by the employer only if it proves the violation was in good faith with reasonable grounds. You can complain to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or sue directly. The deadline is two years from the last violation, or three years if willful.

For HFLL violations, the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Wage Standards Division handles complaints, which must be filed in writing and signed through the Oahu or district offices.²⁰ Employers covered by HFLL must post notices in the workplace explaining leave rights; missing postings are themselves a violation and a warning sign.

1
Cornell Law Institute. Hawaii Code R 12-27-6 – Family Leave Entitlement and Use
2
University of Hawaiʻi. Family and Medical Leave
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
5
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Hawaii Family Leave
6
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.113 – Serious Health Condition
7
Justia Law. Hawaii Revised Statutes Title 21 Chapter 398 Section 398-3 – Family Leave Requirement
8
U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
9
State of Hawaii Disability Compensation Division. 2026 Maximum Weekly Wage Base and Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount
10
State of Hawaii Disability Compensation Division. About Temporary Disability Insurance
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor – Key Employee Exception
13
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.302 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor – Timing of Employee Notice
15
U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Forms
16
U.S. Department of Labor. Counting Leave Use under the Family and Medical Leave Act
17
U.S. Department of Labor. The Employee’s Guide to Military Family Leave
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28M(a) – Military Caregiver Leave for a Current Servicemember under the Family and Medical Leave Act
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2617 – Enforcement
20
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Filing a Complaint with Wage Standards Division