The Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL) has been expanded to allow eligible employees to take family leave for a qualifying military exigency involving an employee’s child, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, sibling, grandchild, or parent serving in the United States Armed Forces. The amendment, which aligns the HFLL with FMLA, was passed during this year’s legislative session and signed into law on May 19, 2026; it took effect July 1.
HFLL provides eligible workers who work for employers with 100 or more employees to take up to four weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during a calendar year upon the birth or adoption of an employee’s child, to care for the employee’s child, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, sibling, grandchild, or parent with a serious health condition, or for a military exigency, such as arranging childcare, attending military briefings, or securing legal and financial services necessitated by relocation, deployments or other service-related obligations. Documentation of leave shall include a copy of official military orders.
For more information, see the DLIR press release.