Pay stub requirements in Hawaii

01 — The law

What Hawaii law requires

1. 01

   A full record at every payday, kept for six years

   Every employer shall furnish each employee at every payday a legible printed, typewritten or handwritten record showing the employee total gross compensation, the amount and purpose of each deduction, total net compensation, the date of payment and the pay period covered, and shall maintain and preserve a copy of that record or its equivalent for at least six years.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-7 - Notification, posting, and records →
2. 02

   Going electronic needs the employee written authorization

   In lieu of the printed, typewritten or handwritten record, and upon receipt of written authorization from the employee, the employer may provide an electronic record that the employee can access electronically. The six year retention duty follows the electronic record, so switching format shortens nothing.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-7 - Notification, posting, and records →
3. 03

   Written notice at hiring of rate, day, hour and place of payment

   Employers must notify each employee in writing at the time of hiring of the rate of pay and of the day, hour and place of payment, must notify them in writing or by a posted notice of any change before it happens, and must provide policies on vacation and sick leave in writing or by posted notice.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-7 - Notification, posting, and records →
4. 04

   Paid twice a month, and settled within seven days

   Every employer shall pay all wages due at least twice during each calendar month on regular paydays designated in advance, and the earned wages of all employees are due and payable within seven days after the end of each pay period. A majority of employees, or of a bargaining unit, may elect by secret ballot to be paid monthly instead, and that election stands for two years.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-2 - Semimonthly payday, method of payment of wages →
5. 05

   Direct deposit is voluntary, and monthly paydays need permission

   An employer may pay by direct deposit only where the employee has voluntarily authorised it in writing or by electronic signature. The director of labor and industrial relations may, on an application showing good and sufficient reasons, allow paydays less frequent than semimonthly provided the employee is paid in full at least once a calendar month, or allow wages to be paid within fifteen days of the end of the period rather than seven.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-2 - Semimonthly payday, method of payment of wages →
6. 06

   A long list of deductions the employee cannot even agree to

   No employer may deduct any part of earned compensation except where required by statute or court process or authorised in writing by the employee, and six categories may not be authorised at all: fines, cash shortages in a shared till, breakage penalties, losses from dishonoured cheques the employee had discretion to accept, losses from faulty workmanship or damaged or stolen property absent wilful disregard, and the cost of medical examinations required by the employer.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-6 - Withholding of wages →
7. 07

   Sixteen dollars from January 2026, eighteen from January 2028

   Section 387-2 sets the minimum wage at sixteen dollars per hour beginning 1 January 2026 and eighteen dollars beginning 1 January 2028. The tip credit is narrow: an employer may pay up to one dollar twenty five cents below the applicable minimum wage only where the employee combined wages and tips come to at least seven dollars more than that minimum.

   Hawaii Revised Statutes 387-2 - Minimum wages →

02 — Local rates

Local rates above the Hawaii minimum

03 — What we calculate

What this generator calculates for Hawaii

State withholding for Hawaii is calculated from the 2026 figures the state publishes, and our test suite holds those figures against the state's own published calculation rather than against arithmetic of ours. Hawaii lets an employer pass HI Temporary Disability Insurance on to the employee. We do not calculate that, so the stub carries no line for it.

04 — Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does Hawaii require a pay stub?

Yes, and a detailed one. At every payday the employer must furnish a legible record showing total gross compensation, the amount and purpose of each deduction, total net compensation, the date of payment and the pay period covered. That is the widest statutory content list among the states published here.

Can my Hawaii employer give me an electronic pay stub?

Only if you have authorised it in writing. The statute treats the printed, typewritten or handwritten record as the default and allows an electronically accessible record in lieu of it upon receipt of written authorization from the employee. Either version has to be retained by the employer for at least six years.

How often does Hawaii require wages to be paid?

At least twice during each calendar month on paydays designated in advance, with earned wages due within seven days after the end of each pay period. A majority of employees can vote by secret ballot to move to monthly pay, an election that is valid for two years and cannot be repeated more than once every two years.

What is the Hawaii minimum wage in 2026?

Sixteen dollars an hour from 1 January 2026, the second step of a schedule that reached fourteen dollars in 2024 and rises again to eighteen dollars on 1 January 2028. Tipped employees may be paid up to one dollar twenty five cents below that only where wages and tips together clear the minimum by at least seven dollars.

What can a Hawaii employer never deduct from my pay?

Six things, even with your written agreement: fines, cash shortages in a till two or more people use, breakage penalties, losses from cheques you were free to refuse, losses from faulty workmanship or damaged, lost or stolen property unless you wilfully disregarded the employer interest, and the cost of a medical examination the employer or the law required.

Why does my Hawaii employer keep pay records for six years?

Because the statute says so. Section 388-7 requires the employer to maintain and preserve a copy of each payday record, or its equivalent, for at least six years, whether the record is on paper or electronic. Most states settle for two or three years, so Hawaii asks employers to look back considerably further.