Hawaii has quietly expanded one of the more consequential leave obligations facing employers in the state, and benefits brokers advising clients there need to make sure the update has not slipped through the cracks.
Act 13, signed by Governor Josh Green on May 19, amended the Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL) to add qualifying military exigency as a protected leave reason. The change took effect July 1.
The HFLL applies to employers with 100 or more employees. Eligible workers, those with at least six consecutive months of service, may take up to four weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per calendar year. That entitlement now covers the birth or adoption of a child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, and urgent situations tied to a family member's active-duty military service.
Hawaii is not a state where military families are a marginal concern. According to the Defense Manpower Data Center, Hawaii has the highest concentration of active-duty and reserve military personnel of any US state, at 39 per 1,000 residents, with Alaska next at 33.9 per 1,000. The state is home to more than 250,000 military personnel and their families, according to the Hawaii Defense Economy office.
For employers of any meaningful size, the likelihood of having employees affected by a family member's deployment is not small. The range of situations that qualify as a military exigency is broad.
Under Act 13, the HFLL adopts the same exigency definitions as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), though Hawaii's law covers a broader set of family relationships, including siblings, grandchildren, and reciprocal beneficiaries - categories the FMLA does not include.
The practical obligations for covered employers are specific. Employees must provide advance notice when requesting military exigency leave. Employers are required to obtain a copy of the official military orders from any employee taking this type of leave.
HR staff and managers need training to recognize and process these requests, and existing leave policies must be updated to cover the new qualifying reason. For employers subject to both HFLL and federal FMLA, the two laws can run concurrently, and brokers should confirm clients understand how they interact, as compliance advisors managing multi-state leave obligations are increasingly finding.
The Hawaii change lands in a year of heavy state-level leave activity. Minnesota and Maine both launched new paid family and medical leave programs in 2026, with military exigency among the qualifying reasons in Maine's program. Maryland opened its private paid family leave market to insurers this year, with a September 30 filing deadline for carriers seeking to offer equivalent private plans.
The federal picture is also shifting. Congress introduced the MIL FMLA Act in May 2025, which would expand federal military family leave protections by removing the requirement that exigencies apply only to foreign deployments. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Its prospects are uncertain, but it signals the direction lawmakers are moving.
The value here is practical for brokers. Clients in Hawaii with 100 or more employees need their leave policies updated now. Those working across multiple states face a compliance calendar that is growing more complex by the quarter, and the broker who tracks it is harder to replace than the one who just runs the annual renewal.
