US state regulation
Hawaii
Every state-level regulation PlainRegWatch tracks for Hawaii - across data privacy, AI, food chemical bans, right to repair and worker protection, with status, effective dates and official sources.
- 34/100
- Strictness score
- 3
- Regulations tracked
- 3
- Enacted into law
- 1/5
- Categories regulated
The verdict
Hawaii is a light-touch regulator - 3 enacted regulations across 1 of 5 tracked policy areas, scoring 34/100 for regulatory strictness, led by Employment & Worker Protection.
- 34/100
- strictness score (vs peers)
- 3
- regulations enacted
- 1/5
- policy areas regulated
- Employment & Worker Protection
- most-active policy area
Strictness is a 0–100 composite of regulatory breadth and the enacted share; see methodology for how it is derived.
Regulatory Snapshot: Hawaii
Hawaii currently tracks 3 regulations in the PlainRegWatch database, of which 3 are enacted and 0 remain pending before the state legislature. The state's composite strictness score sits at 34/100, classifying Hawaii as a light-touch regulator compared to its peers. Regulatory activity spans 1 of 5 policy categories covered by PlainRegWatch, with Employment & Worker Protection representing the most active area (3 enacted rules).
The earliest tracked Hawaii enactment dates to 2018, with the most recent documented enactment in 2023 - a window of 5 years of legislative activity. Across the 50-state fleet, Hawaii contributes to a national total that PlainRegWatch maintains across categories such as AI Regulation, Data Privacy, Employment & Worker Protection, Food Chemical Bans and more, each with distinct compliance obligations.
Compliance teams monitoring Hawaii should treat the 3-enacted / 0-pending split as a leading indicator: pending bills in this state often signal the shape of future regulation in neighboring jurisdictions with similar strictness scores. For the authoritative statutory text of any Hawaii regulation listed below, follow the source link on its detail page, PlainRegWatch links every entry to the official state legislative record.
💼 Employment & Worker Protection
Hawaii Minimum Wage Law
HRS 387-2 Effective: 2026-01-01Hawaii minimum wage $16.00/hr (2024), $18.00/hr from Jan 2026. Schedule to $18/hr passed 2022.
Hawaii Pay Transparency Law
SB 1057 Effective: 2024-01-01Pay range for 50+ employee employers.
Hawaii Salary History Ban
SB 2351 Effective: 2019-01-01Hawaii prohibits salary history inquiries. Requires employers to state pay scale if requested.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
What this means for Hawaii
Hawaii's regulatory activity is concentrated in employment & worker protection - the area to watch for compliance.
- Employment & Worker Protection is Hawaii's most-regulated area (3 enacted rules). Compare states
- Hawaii regulates across 1 of 5 tracked policy areas, with 0 bills still pending.
- See how Hawaii ranks against other states on regulatory strictness and volume. View rankings
Figures reflect regulations currently tracked from official Hawaii legislative records; coverage expands as new laws are enacted.
Source: State regulatory filings (IAPP / MultiState aggregation) Hawaii state-rule registry · 2023 State regulatory data aggregated from official state filings; status (enacted/pending/proposed) reflects latest legislative tracker snapshot.
Every figure on PlainRegWatch is rendered directly from state source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal and state source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.