Labor

The County of Hawaiʻi has reached an agreement for COVID-19 hazard pay with the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and Hawaiʻi Fire Fighters Association. Hazard pay negotiations had been a contentious issue.

Federal funding cuts have hit close to home for Maui residents. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, a grant program that supported wildfire recovery efforts has been terminated.

A bill introduced this legislative session would have required local medical school graduates to work as physicians in the state for two years after graduation. While supporters said it would have helped tackle Hawaiʻi’s physician shortage, the bill has died this session.

The commission is recommending that the governor, lieutenant governor, department heads and their deputies receive a 15% raise starting in July. Those positions would continue to receive raises ranging from 4% to 8% in the five years following. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.

The state has received 827 applications as part of Gov. Josh Green's Operation Hire Hawaiʻi initiative. The Conversation talked to Brenna Hashimoto, the director of the Department of Human Resources Development.

Halona Norton-Westbrook will assume a new role as the director of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. She starts July 1.

The Maui Humane Society was notified that the National Dislocated Worker Grant they used to fund three positions has been discontinued immediately.

In an attempt to address the state’s medical staffing shortages, lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow graduates from certain foreign medical schools to seek licensure in Hawaiʻi.

Former employees have described a toxic work environment and leadership issues at the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, leading to the stalled confirmation of its current director.

The competition was stiff — 475 people applied for 30 slots to train as physician assistants in a new master's program at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. It rolled out last month and aims to address our community's health care needs.