Workplace Protections

You don’t have to give your employer written proof (documentation) of the abuse unless your employer asks you to. If your employer asks for documentation, however, your absence won’t be excused until you provide it.¹

If you need the time off for medical treatment, your employer can ask you for a certificate from a health care provider, which does two things:

• estimates the number of days you will need off; and
• gives an approximate start date and end date for the leave.²

Before you can go back to work, your employer can ask you for a medical certificate from your health care provider, which verifies your condition and approves your return to work.²

If you take five days or less for non-medical reasons, your employer can ask you to write and sign a statement that says:

• that either you or your minor child have been a victim of domestic or sexual violence; and
• the leave is for one of the reasons listed in What legal or medical actions, specifically, can I use the time off from work to do?³

If you take more than five days in a calendar year for a non-medical reason, your employer can ask for any of the following:

• a certified copy of a restraining order, injunction against harassment, or documents from a criminal case;
• documentation from a victim services organization or domestic/sexual violence program, including a shelter or safe house for victims of domestic or sexual violence; or
• documentation from a medical professional, mental health care provider, attorney, advocate, social worker, or member of the clergy who helped you or your child with the domestic or sexual violence abuse.³

Also, while you are on leave, your employer may require that you check in with him/her at least once a week to confirm that you intend to return to work.⁴

¹ Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-72(c), (e)
² Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-72(c)
³ Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-72(d)
⁴ Haw. Rev. Stat. § 378-72(g)