Skip to content
The Mandate Monitor

Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers): what employers must do

Signed into lawChecked November 7, 2026Run by Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (Department of Labor and Industrial Relations)

Short answer

Hawaii law requires private employers with at least one employee to automatically enroll workers in a state Roth individual retirement account (IRA) program unless the employer has offered a qualified retirement plan in the past two years. The program hasn’t launched yet, so nothing is due today. The board has joined Connecticut’s multistate partnership (run by Vestwell) and adopted the name HISavers. It projects a late-December 2026 launch, with employer compliance deadlines in two waves targeted for early 2027; exact dates and which employers fall in each wave haven’t been announced.

Does your payroll handle Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers)? See the free state route and how payroll handles it.

Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers) deadlines

  1. · Retirement mandate

    Expected, date not set: Projected program launch in late December 2026 (state projection; no exact date announced)

  2. · Retirement mandate

    Expected, date not set: Tentative: first-wave employer compliance deadline, targeted for February or March 2027

    The exact date and which employers are in this wave haven’t been announced.

  3. · Retirement mandate

    Expected, date not set: Tentative: second-wave employer compliance deadline, targeted for April or May 2027

    The exact date and which employers are in this wave haven’t been announced.

Dates already passed (4)
  • : Board adopted 'HISavers’ as the program’s public name.
  • : Board voted to roll out the program to employers in two waves.
  • : Hawaii Retirement Savings Board voted to join the Connecticut Retirement Security Program (MyCT) Partnership.
  • : Act 113 (2025) took effect, changing the program to automatic enrollment: covered employers must enroll covered employees unless they opt out.

What employers have to do

  1. Nothing to file yet. Watch for the program’s launch notice, which will give your deadline (targeted for early 2027).
  2. Once notified, register by your wave’s deadline, or show you’re exempt if you’ve offered a qualified plan in the past two years.
  3. Give covered employees written notice of their right to opt out, then enroll everyone who doesn’t opt out.
  4. Withhold contributions and send them to the program as soon as they can be separated from company funds, no later than the 15th of the month after the month they were withheld (HRS 389-5(e)).
  5. Keep employee information up to date in the program’s portal.

Handling Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers) in payroll

The free route: register directly with the state

When the program is open to you, you can register and report on your own through Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (Department of Labor and Industrial Relations). Once it starts, your payroll will have to send the employee contributions each pay period.

We list a payroll system here once a help document describes how it handles Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers), whether the company’s own or the program’s, with the link and the date we read it. See how we make money.

How Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers) works

Default 5% of salary or wages into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA) (HRS 389-5 and 389-6). Employees can choose a higher or lower rate or opt out. The statute sets no automatic escalation, and the program hasn’t announced one. The board may later add a traditional IRA option.

Employers may not contribute, matching or otherwise (HRS 389-5(h)), and the program says participation creates no fiduciary responsibility. At the board’s September 22, 2026 meeting (draft minutes), Vestwell said employers can submit contributions manually at no cost and that it doesn’t charge for supported payroll integrations, though some payroll providers charge their own fees.

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers)?

Any private employer in business in Hawaii with one or more employees, unless it has offered or maintained a 401(a), 401(k), 403(a), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) (408(k)) or SIMPLE individual retirement account (IRA) (408(p)) plan for some or all employees at any time in the preceding two years. Covered employees are Hawaii residents 18 or older whose wages are subject to Hawaii income tax. Government employers are excluded, as are employees covered by the Railway Labor Act or by Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension contributions.

How do employers get an exemption from Hawaii Retirement Savings Program (HISavers)?

No exemption process yet. Under HRS 389-2, an employer that offered or maintained a qualified plan for some or all employees in the preceding two years is not covered. The program hasn’t published how employers will certify an exemption. The board says its administrator will use federal Form 5500 filings to screen out employers that already have plans. The program FAQ also lists a pooled employer plan (PEP) as a way to comply.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

HRS 389-14 applies once the program is running. Failing to enroll a covered employee without equitable justification makes the employer owe the missed contributions plus 6% annual interest, paid into the employee’s individual retirement account (IRA). On top of that, the penalty is $25 for each month the employee wasn’t enrolled, and $50 a month after a penalty has been assessed. Late transmittal of withheld contributions is penalized like misappropriation of wage withholdings under HRS chapter 388. Other violations cost at least $500 each, capped at $5,000 per calendar year. No penalty for missed enrollment or late transmittal applies if the employer used reasonable diligence, didn’t know of the failure, and fixes it within 90 days, and those penalties can be waived for equitable justification. Under HRS 389-13, an employee denied enrollment can sue to be enrolled and recover costs and attorneys’ fees.

Everything employers in Hawaii must do ·Retirement mandates in every state

Sources

  1. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 389 (Act 296, 2022; amended by Act 113, 2025)
  2. Hawaiʻi Retirement Savings Program home page (projected launch, MyCT Partnership), Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (read Nov 7, 2026)
  3. Program overview (automatic enrollment effective May 29, 2025; 5% default), Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Employers page, Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. Frequently Asked Questions (November 2025), Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (read Nov 7, 2026)
  6. HRS 389-2, Definitions (covered employer, covered employee), Hawaii State Legislature (read Nov 7, 2026)
  7. HRS 389-5, Program establishment; payroll deduction, Hawaii State Legislature (read Nov 7, 2026)
  8. HRS 389-6, Contribution amount; rates, Hawaii State Legislature (read Nov 7, 2026)
  9. HRS 389-13, Civil actions, Hawaii State Legislature (read Nov 7, 2026)
  10. HRS 389-14, Penalties, Hawaii State Legislature (read Nov 7, 2026)
  11. Board minutes, March 17, 2026 (two-wave rollout vote), Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 7, 2026)
  12. Board minutes, June 16, 2026 (HISavers name, Form 5500 screening, early-2027 compliance deadlines), Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 7, 2026)
  13. Board meeting packet, September 22, 2026 (implementation timeline: December 2026 launch, compliance deadlines February/March and April/May 2027), Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 7, 2026)
  14. Board minutes, September 22, 2026 (draft; mid-to-late December launch, employer costs), Hawaii Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 7, 2026)