Earlier this year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii submitted a certified question to the Hawaii Supreme Court:
Q: What unit of measure applies when assessing minimum wage compliance and damages under Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 387-2 and 387-12? Is it the per-workweek unit used under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? Or is it the per-hour unit?
A: The per-hour unit applies.
The Supreme Court’s opinion says that the text of Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage law is “unambiguous” in requiring that compliance and damages be assessed per hour. The Hawaii Legislature did not authorize workweek averaging to satisfy minim um wage requirements. The Court concludes: “Workweek averaging has no place in Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage law.” Read the opinion in full here.