Anticipating a rush of last-minute filers, the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs announced Friday it will remain open this weekend to accommodate security guards who need to register with the state or receive training to continue working next week.

Effective Monday, security guards and others who work in a security capacity must be registered with the state Board of Private Detectives and Guards and meet instruction and training requirements. The new requirements were established in Act 208 of 2010, which established minimum standards for security guards.

About 10,000 workers in Hawaii are affected by the new requirements, according to state labor statistics. As of yesterday, only about 4,000 had met the requirements, according to DCCA communications officer Brent Suyama.

The newly established minimum requirements say guards must be at least 18 years old and possess a high school diploma or equivalent. Guards cannot be suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder than could directly affect their performance and may not have been convicted of a crime “which reflects unfavorably on the fitness of the individual to act as a guard.”

In addition, guards must successfully complete eight hours of classroom instruction and undergo four hours of on-the-job training.

Registration and training began in January, and the DCCA has been active in contacting security service contractors and businesses that employ security personnel to apprise them of the new requirements and the impending deadline.

Guards who do not meet all of the requirements before Monday will be legally ineligible to continue working until the requirements are met.

However, the Board of Private Detectives and Guards announced Thursday that those who file the necessary paperwork before Monday and have attested that they meet all the requirements may continue working. If an applicant is subsequently approved, he or she will be issued a guard registration card retroactive to July 1.

If the applicant is not approved, no registration card will be issued, and the applicant may not continue working.