Jobs for Felons in Hawaii

Hawaii's ban-the-box law covers private employers with one or more employees, and the State and counties too. An employer cannot ask about or consider your conviction record until after it has given you a conditional job offer.

After the offer, the employer can pull it only if the conviction has a “rational relationship” to the duties of the job.

Most employers can consider only felony convictions from the last 7 years and misdemeanor convictions from the last 5 years, not counting time you were locked up. If your record shows a longer sentence than you actually served, the employer has to let you show proof of your release date.

Under federal law, a background check company can still report an older conviction, and arrests with no conviction generally drop off after 7 years (except for jobs paying $75,000 or more). In Hawaii, the 7 and 5 year limit is on what most employers can use, even if an older case shows up on a report.

The offer-first rule and the 7 and 5 year limit do not apply to employers that another law lets check records, such as private schools, banks, insurance companies, security guard and detective agencies, airport screening jobs, and some state agencies. Expect those employers to ask earlier and look further back.

Hawaii lists “arrest and court record” as a protected category, like race or age. Employers cannot refuse to hire you because of it, or use application forms or job ads that screen on it. The main exception is a conviction record, handled under the rules above. So, as we read the law, an arrest that did not lead to a conviction should not cost you the job. The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission takes complaints.

Record clearing in Hawaii is mainly for arrests and charges that did not end in a conviction. You apply to the Attorney General (the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center), not a court. A deferred plea (DAG or DANC) can generally be expunged one year after you are discharged and the charge is dismissed. Check the current rule for your offense.

With an expungement certificate you can say you have no record of that arrest, even under oath, and you cannot be fired or face other adverse action for saying so.

For most state and county jobs and state licenses, you cannot be disqualified solely because of a prior conviction. The State can consider a conviction from the past 10 years (not counting time locked up) that has a rational relationship to the job or license. An older conviction counts only if it directly relates to the work and, after an investigation, the agency finds you have not been sufficiently rehabilitated. Expunged convictions cannot be used.