Section 12-51-11 - Complaints by employees(a) Any employee or their designated representative who believes that a violation of the law exists in any workplace where the employee is employed may request an inspection of the workplace by giving notice of the alleged violation to the director, the administrator, or to a safety and health compliance officer. The notice shall be written and state with reasonable particularity, the grounds for the inspection. It shall be signed by the employee or their designated representative. A copy shall be provided to the employer or to the employer's agent by the director, the administrator, or a safety and health compliance officer no later than at the time of inspection, except the complainant's name and the names of individual employees shall not appear on any record published, released, or made available by the department. In case of imminent danger situations, a phone call shall be sufficient to initiate inspection activity. In other cases, phone calls shall not be regarded as official complaints and may or may not be acted upon, at the discretion of the director.(b) If, upon receipt of notification, the director determines that the notice meets the requirements in subsection (a) above and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged violation exists, the director shall cause an inspection to be made as soon as practicable to determine if the alleged violation exists. Inspections made pursuant to this section shall not be limited only to matters in the complaint.(c) Prior to or during any inspection of a workplace, any employee or designated representative of the employees employed in that workplace may notify the safety and health compliance officer in writing of any violation of the law which they have reason to believe exists in the workplace. Any notice shall comply with subsection (a) above.(d) Any employee who believes that he or she has been unfairly discharged, suspended, or refused pay for time spent engaged in inspection related activities, or otherwise discriminated against by the employer for reasons relating to the employee's exercising of rights under the law, such as refusal to engage in unsafe work situations or for the filing of a complaint in accordance with subsection (a) above, may, within sixty days of the alleged act of discrimination, file a complaint, setting forth in detail the circumstances, with the department. (1) Upon receipt of a complaint, the department shall investigate, and if discrimination in violation of chapter 396, HRS, is found, shall initiate appropriate action against the employer.(2) The director may extend the sixty day filing period on recognized equitable principles (i.e., where the employer has concealed, or misled the employee regarding the grounds for discharge or other adverse action) or where the discrimination is in the nature of a continuing violation.(3) The pendency of a grievance-arbitration proceeding or filing with another agency, among others, are unqualifying circumstances to extend the sixty-day filing period.[Eff. 7/12/82; am 8/15/87; am 3/29/99] (Auth: HRS § 396-4) (Imp: HRS § 396-4 and § 396-8)