Hawaii Workplace Recording Laws: Employee and Employer Rights

Under HRS 803-42, Hawaii is a one-party consent state, so employees can legally record any workplace conversation they participate in without notifying coworkers or supervisors. The private places exception in HRS 711-1111 may apply in enclosed private offices, but it requires consent of the person entitled to privacy rather than a wiretap-style all-party consent standard, and no Hawaii case confirms it reaches a participant's own recording of their own conversation.

Hawaii's workplace recording laws sit at the intersection of the state's one-party consent wiretapping statute, its private places privacy law, federal labor protections, and employer policies. Employees in Hawaii have broad rights to record workplace conversations under HRS 803-42, but the private places exception under HRS 711-1111 adds complexity that both employees and employers need to understand.

This guide covers when employees can legally record at work, what employers can and cannot monitor, how federal labor law interacts with Hawaii recording rules, and practical guidance for both sides.

Employee Rights to Record at Work

The One-Party Consent Foundation

Under HRS 803-42, Hawaii is a one-party consent state. This means any employee can record a workplace conversation they are participating in without informing or obtaining permission from the other parties. The employee's own knowledge of the recording satisfies the consent requirement.

This applies to:

• Conversations with supervisors and managers
• Meetings with HR representatives
• Discussions with coworkers
• Performance reviews and disciplinary meetings
• Phone calls with clients or vendors
• Video conference calls

When Employee Recording Is Legal

An employee in Hawaii can legally record in the following situations:

Open work areas. Common spaces like open-plan offices, conference rooms, break rooms, hallways, and lobbies are not "private places" under HRS 711-1111. One-party consent applies, and the employee can record any conversation they participate in.

Phone calls. All phone calls where the employee is a participant can be recorded under one-party consent. This includes calls on company phones, personal cell phones, and VoIP platforms.

Meetings. An employee attending a meeting can record it as long as they are a participant. This includes team meetings, one-on-one meetings with supervisors, and group discussions.

When Employee Recording May Be Restricted

Private offices. An enclosed private office may qualify as a "private place" under HRS 711-1111. However, the statute is primarily aimed at a third party covertly recording someone else in a private place, not a participant recording their own conversation, and it requires consent of the person entitled to privacy rather than wiretap-style all-party consent. For an employee recording their own closed-door meeting with a manager, the private places exception is unlikely to apply because the employee is a participant exercising their own right to record under HRS 803-42, though no Hawaii case confirms this.

Bathrooms and locker rooms. These are private places where recording is always prohibited without all-party consent. Recording in these areas can also trigger the more serious voyeurism charges under HRS 711-1110.9.

Conversations you are not part of. Planting a recording device and leaving to capture conversations between other people is illegal eavesdropping under HRS 803-42, regardless of the location.

Employer Surveillance Rights

Video Surveillance in the Workplace

Hawaii employers can install video surveillance cameras in areas where employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Permissible locations include:

• Entrances and exits
• Parking lots
• Sales floors and customer-facing areas
• Warehouses and production floors
• Common hallways and corridors
• Loading docks

Prohibited Surveillance Areas

Employers cannot install cameras or recording devices in:

• Bathrooms and restrooms
• Locker rooms and changing areas
• Shower facilities
• Nursing rooms and lactation spaces
• Any area designated as a "private place" under HRS 711-1111

Recording in these areas is a misdemeanor under HRS 711-1111 and may be elevated to a Class C felony under HRS 711-1110.9 if intimate images are captured.

Audio Surveillance by Employers

Employer audio surveillance is more restricted than video. Under HRS 803-42, intercepting oral communications requires the consent of at least one party. An employer cannot:

• Place hidden audio recording devices in work areas to record employee conversations without any participant's knowledge
• Tap employee phone lines without notice or consent
• Record conversations in areas where employees have privacy expectations

An employer can:

• Record phone calls when the company is a party to the call (customer service monitoring)
• Use audio recording in public-facing areas with proper notice
• Monitor calls when employees are informed through written policies

Employee Notice Requirements

While Hawaii law does not have a specific statute requiring employers to notify employees about workplace surveillance, best practices include:

• Written policies in the employee handbook disclosing surveillance practices
• Visible signage where cameras are installed
• Clear notification in job offers or employment agreements
• Annual reminders about monitoring practices

Employer No-Recording Policies

Legality of Workplace Recording Bans

Employers in Hawaii can implement no-recording policies as a condition of employment. Violating a no-recording policy may result in termination, disciplinary action, or other employment consequences, even if the recording itself does not violate state law. However, employer policies cannot make legally permitted recordings "illegal" -- they simply create employment consequences.

Federal Labor Law Limitations

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) Section 7 provides important protections that may override employer no-recording policies in certain situations. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that blanket no-recording policies can violate employees' Section 7 rights to engage in concerted activity.

Under the current standard set by Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023), the NLRB evaluates employer work rules by asking whether a reasonably objective employee, not aware of NLRA rights, would read the rule as prohibiting or chilling protected concerted activity. A blanket no-recording rule fails this test unless the employer proves a substantial business justification that outweighs the restriction on protected rights.

An employer's no-recording policy may be unlawful if it would reasonably tend to chill employees from exercising their rights to:

• Document unsafe working conditions
• Record evidence of labor law violations
• Gather information to support union organizing efforts
• Preserve evidence of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation

Note: NLRB General Counsel Memorandum GC 25-05 (February 2025) is a housekeeping rescission of prior GC memos, not a substantive policy change. Stericycle remains the controlling standard.

Employers can maintain narrowly tailored recording restrictions that serve a legitimate business justification, such as protecting trade secrets, client confidentiality, or HIPAA-protected information.

Recording Specific Workplace Situations

Documenting Harassment

Hawaii employees have the right to record conversations that document workplace harassment, including:

• Sexual harassment incidents
• Racial or ethnic discrimination
• Hostile work environment conditions
• Retaliation for reporting safety violations or engaging in protected activity

Under one-party consent, an employee who participates in these conversations can record them without informing the harasser. The recording must be made in an area where the private places exception does not apply.

Whistleblower Protections

Hawaii's Whistleblower Protection Act (HRS 378-61 to 378-69) protects employees who report violations of law or safety standards. Recording workplace violations for the purpose of whistleblowing may be protected under both state and federal law.

Recording Disciplinary Meetings

Employees called into disciplinary meetings can record under one-party consent if:

• The meeting takes place in an open conference room or common area (not a "private place")
• The employee is a participant in the meeting
• The recording is not prohibited by a valid employer policy that the employee has agreed to

For meetings in enclosed private offices, the private places exception is unlikely to apply to an employee recording their own meeting, since HRS 711-1111 targets third-party surveillance of a private place rather than a participant's own recording, though no Hawaii case confirms this.

Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are conversations in which the employee participates. Under one-party consent, the employee can record their own performance review. This is most clearly permitted in common meeting areas.

Wearable Technology and AI Recording

Wearable Recording Devices

Hawaii law permits employees to use wearable recording devices like Plaud and similar AI voice recorders at work, provided:

• The employee is a party to the conversations being recorded
• The recording does not amount to third-party surveillance of a private place under HRS 711-1111, which targets covert recording of others rather than a participant's own recording
• The recording is not for a criminal or tortious purpose

AI Meeting Assistants

AI meeting assistants that join video calls and conferences are permitted under Hawaii's one-party consent framework. The key question is whether the AI tool is acting as a participant or with the consent of a participant. As long as one party to the call consents, the recording is permitted.

An employee using an AI note-taker for a work video call they attend is covered by one-party consent. However, using the device in a physical meeting in a manager's private office could raise HRS 711-1111 issues.

Smart Glasses

Smart glasses that record video and audio can be used by employees who are party to a conversation. The private places exception under HRS 711-1111 still applies. HRS 711-1111 targets third-party surveillance of a private place, not a participant's own recording, so using a wearable recorder as a participant in your own meeting is unlikely to trigger the statute, though no Hawaii case confirms this.

Penalty Summary

Federal Developments Affecting Workplace Recordings

Hawaii's election deepfake law, Act 191 SLH 2024, was permanently enjoined as facially unconstitutional in Babylon Bee LLC v. Lopez, No. 1:25-cv-00234 (D. Haw. Jan. 30, 2026). The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (signed May 19, 2025, effective May 19, 2026) imposes notice-and-takedown obligations on platforms for non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes. Employers who maintain employee-generated content on internal platforms should be aware of these emerging obligations.

More Hawaii Recording Laws

Audio Recording | Video Recording | Voyeurism and Hidden Cameras | Workplace Recording | Recording Police | Phone Call Recording | Security Cameras | Recording in Public | Landlord-Tenant Recording | Dashcam Laws | School Recording | Medical Recording

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