The following sections of the Alaska Statutes concern overtime pay.
- AS 23.10.055. Exemptions from overtime pay.
- AS 23.10.060. Payment For Overtime.
- AS 23.10.065. Minimum Wages.
- AS 23.10.070. Exemptions From Minimum Wage.
- AS 23.10.100. Employer to Keep Records.
AS 23.10.150. Short Title.
AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 may be cited as the Alaska Wage and Hour Act .
AS 23.10.050. Public Policy.
It is the public policy of the state to
(1) establish minimum wage and overtime compensation standards for workers at levels consistent with
their health, efficiency, and general well-being, and
(2) safeguard existing minimum wage and overtime compensation standards that are adequate to maintain the
health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers against the unfair competition of wage and hour standards
that do not provide adequate standards of living .
AS 23.10.055. Exemptions.
The provisions of AS 23.10.050 --23.10.150 do not apply to:
(1) an individual employed in agriculture, which includes farming in all its branches and, among other things,
includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting
of any agricultural or horticultural commodities, the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry,
and any practices, including forestry and lumbering operations, performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident
to or in conjunction with the farming operations, including preparation for market, or delivery to storage or to
market or to carriers for transportation to market;
(2) an individual employed in the catching, trapping, cultivating or farming, netting, or taking of any kind of
fish, shellfish, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life;
(3) an individual employed in the hand-picking of shrimp;
(4) an individual employed in domestic service, including a baby-sitter, in or about a private home;
(5) an individual employed by the United States or by the state or a political subdivision of the state, except
as provided in AS 23.10.065(b), including prisoners not on furlough detained or confined in prison facilities;
(6) an individual engaged in the nonprofit activities of a nonprofit religious, charitable, cemetery, or educational
organization or other nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist,
and where services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary basis and are related only to the organization's
nonprofit activities; for purposes of this paragraph, "nonprofit activities" means activities for which
the nonprofit organization does not incur a liability for unrelated business income tax under 26 U.S.C. 513, as
amended;
(7) an employee engaged in the delivery of newspapers to the consumer;
(8) an individual employed solely as a watchman or caretaker of a plant or property that is not in productive use
for a period of four months or more;
(9) an individual employed:
(A) in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity;
(B) in the capacity of an outside salesman or a salesman who is employed on a straight commission basis; or
(C) as a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, or other similarly skilled worker;
(10) an individual employed in the search for placer or hard rock minerals;
(11) an individual under 18 years of age employed on a part-time basis not more than 30 hours in a week;
(12) employment by a nonprofit educational or child care facility to serve as a parent of children while the children
are in residence at the facility if the employment requires residence at the facility and is compensated on a cash
basis exclusive of room and board at an annual rate of not less than:
(A) $10,000 for an unmarried person; or
(B) $15,000 for a married couple; or
(13) an individual who drives a taxicab, is compensated for taxicab services exclusively by customers of the
service, whose written contractual arrangements with owners of taxicab vehicles, taxicab permits, or radio dispatch
services are based upon flat contractual rates and not based on a percentage share of the individual's receipts
from customers, and whose written contract with owners of taxicab vehicles, taxicab permits, or radio dispatch
services specifically provides that the contract places no restrictions on hours worked by the individual or on
areas in which the individual may work except to comply with local ordinances;
(14) a person who holds a license under AS 08.54 and who is employed by a registered guide or master guide licensed
under AS 08.54, for the first 60 workdays in which the person is employed by the registered guide or master guide
during a calendar year;
(15) an individual engaged in activities for a nonprofit religious, charitable, civic, cemetery, recreational,
or educational organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist, and where services
are rendered to the organization under a work activity requirement of AS 47.27 (Alaska temporary assistance program);
(16) an individual who:
(A) provides emergency medical services only on a voluntary basis;
(B) serves with a full-time fire department only on a voluntary basis; or
(C) provides ski patrol services on a voluntary basis; or
(17) a student participating in a University of Alaska practicum described under AS 14.40.065.
(b) Notwithstanding (c) of this section, an individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or
professional capacity shall be compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate of not less than two times the state
minimum wage for the first 40 hours of employment each week, exclusive of board or lodging that is furnished by
the individual's employer.
(c) In (a)(9) of this section,
(1) "bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity" has the meaning and shall be interpreted
in accordance with 29 U.S.C. 201 --219 (Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938), as amended, or the regulations adopted
under those sections;
(2) "computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, or other similarly skilled worker"
has the meaning and shall be interpreted in accordance with 29 U.S.C. 201 --219 (Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938),
as amended, or the regulations adopted under those sections;
(3) "outside salesman" means an employee
(A) who is customarily and regularly away from the employer's place of business; and
(B) whose primary duty is making sales or contracts for sales, consignments, or shipments, or obtaining orders
for services or for use of facilities for which consideration will be paid by the client or customer;
(4) "salesman who is employed on a straight commission basis" means an employee
(A) who is customarily and regularly employed on the business premises of the employer;
(B) who is compensated on a straight commission basis for the purpose of making sales or contracts for sales, consignments,
shipments, or obtaining orders for services or the use of facilities for which a consideration will be paid by
the client or customer; and
(C) whose primary duty is making sales or contracts for sales, consignments, shipments, or obtaining orders for
service or the use of facilities for which a consideration will be paid by the client or customer.
AS 23.10.060. Payment For Overtime.
(a) An employer who employs employees engaged in commerce or other business, or in the production of goods or
materials in the state, may not employ an employee for a workweek longer than 40 hours or for more than eight hours
a day.
(b) If an employer finds it necessary to employ an employee for hours in excess of the limits set in this subsection,
overtime compensation for the overtime at the rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay shall be paid.
An employee is entitled to overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of eight hours a day. An employee is
also entitled to overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week; in determining whether an
employee has worked more than 40 hours a week, the number of hours worked shall be determined without including
hours that are worked in excess of eight hours in a day because the employee has or will be separately awarded
overtime compensation based on those hours.
(c) This section is considered included in all contracts of employment.
(d) This section does not apply with respect to:
(1) an employee employed by an employer employing less than four employees in the regular course of business,
as "regular course of business" is defined by regulations of the commissioner;
(2) an employee employed in handling, packing, storing, pasteurizing, drying, preparing in their raw or natural
state, or canning agricultural or horticultural commodities for market, or in making cheese or butter or other
dairy products;
(3) an employee of an employer engaged in small mining operations where not more than 12 employees are employed
if the employee is employed not in excess of 12 hours a day or 56 hours a week during a period or periods of not
more than 14 workweeks in the aggregate in a calendar year during the mining season, as the season is defined by
the commissioner;
(4) an employee engaged in agriculture;
(5) an employee employed in connection with the publication of a weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper with a
circulation of less than 1,000;
(6) a switchboard operator employed in a public telephone exchange that has fewer than 750 stations;
(7) an employee in an otherwise exempted employment or proprietor in a retail or service establishment engaged
in handling telegraphic, telephone, or radio messages for the public under an agency or contract arrangement with
a telegraph or communications company where the telegraph message or communications revenue of the agency does
not exceed $500 a month;
(8) an employee employed as a seaman;
(9) an employee employed in planting or tending trees, cruising, or surveying, or bucking, or felling timber, or
in preparing or transporting logs or other forestry products to the mill, processing plant, railroad, or other
transportation terminal if the number of employees employed by the employer in the forestry or lumbering operations
does not exceed 12;
(10) an individual employed as an outside buyer of poultry, eggs, cream, or milk in their raw or natural state;
(11) casual employees as may be liberally defined by regulations of the commissioner;
(12) an employee of a hospital whose employment includes the provision of medical services;
(13) work performed by an employee under a flexible work hour plan if the plan is included as part of a collective
bargaining agreement;
(14) work performed by an employee under a voluntary flexible work hour plan if:
(A) the employee and the employer have signed a written agreement and the written agreement has been filed with
the department; and
(B) the department has issued a certificate approving the plan that states the work is for 40 hours a week and
not more than 10 hours a day; for work over 40 hours a week or 10 hours a day under a flexible work hour plan not
included as part of a collective bargaining agreement, compensation at the rate of one and one-half times the regular
rate of pay shall be paid for the overtime;
(15) an individual employed as a line haul truck driver for a trip that exceeds 100 road miles one way if the
compensation system under which the truck driver is paid includes overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours a
week or for more than eight hours a day and the compensation system requires a rate of pay comparable to the rate
of pay required by this section;
(16) an individual employed as a community health aide by a local or regional health organization as those terms
are defined in AS 18.28.100.
(17) work performed by a mechanic primarily engaged in the servicing of automobiles, light trucks, and motor homes
if the mechanic:
(A) is employed as a flat-rate mechanic by a nonmanufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business
of selling or servicing motor vehicles;
(B) has signed a written agreement with the employer that specifies the mechanic's flat hourly rate of pay and
the automotive manual or manuals on which the flat rate is to be based;
(C) is compensated for all hours worked in any capacity for that employer up to and including eight hours a day
and 40 hours a week at an hourly rate that is not less than the greater of:
(i) 75 percent of the flat hourly rate of pay agreed upon by the employer and employee under (B) of this paragraph;
or
(ii) twice the state minimum wage; and
(D) is compensated for all hours worked in any capacity for that employer in excess of eight hours day or 40
hours week at one and one-half times the rate described in (C) of this paragraph;
(18) work performed by an employee under a voluntary written agreement addressing the trading of work shifts
among employees if
(A) the employee is employed by an air carrier subject to subchapter II of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.
181-188), including employment as a customer service representative;
(B) the trading agreement is not a flexible work hour plan entered into under (13) or (14) of this subsection;
(C) the trading agreement is filed with the employee's employer; and
(D) the trading agreement states that the employee is not entitled to receive overtime for any hours worked by
the employee when the employee voluntarily works those hours under a shift trading practice under which the employee
has the opportunity, in the same or other work weeks, to reduce hours worked by voluntarily offering a shift for
trade or reassignment.
(19) work performed by a flight crew member employed by an air carrier subject to 45 U.S.C. 181 --188 (subchapter
II of the Railway Labor Act); in this paragraph, "flight crew" means the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer,
and flight attendants.
(e) The minimum amount due an employee under (d)(17)(C) and (D) of this section shall be figured on a weekly
basis.
AS 23.10.065. Minimum Wages.
(a) Except as provided under (b) of this section, an employer shall pay to each employee wages at a rate
of not less than 50 cents an hour greater than the prevailing Federal Minimum Wage Law for hours worked in a pay
period, whether the work is measured by time, piece, commission, or otherwise. An employer may not apply tips or
gratuities bestowed upon employees as a credit toward payment of the minimum hourly wage required by this section.
Tip credit as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as amended does not apply to the minimum wage established
by this section.
(b) Subject to the limitation under (c) of this section, an employer shall pay to each person employed as
a public school bus driver wages at a rate of not less than two times the minimum wage established under (a) of
this section, for hours worked in a pay period, whether work is measured by time, commission, or otherwise. An
employer may not apply fringe benefits as a credit toward payment of the minimum wage established under this subsection.
(c) Notwithstanding (b) of this section, an employer who contracts with the Department of Education and
Early Development, a school district, or a regional educational attendance area to provide school bus transportation
services is not required to adjust school bus driver wages under (b) of this section, except when entering into
or renewing the contract.
AS 23.10.070. Exemptions From Minimum Wage.
To the extent necessary to prevent curtailment of opportunities of employment, the commissioner may by regulations
or orders provide for the employment at wages lower than the minimum wage prescribed in AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150
of
(1) an individual whose earning capacity is impaired by physical or mental deficiency, age, or injury,
at the wages and subject to the restrictions and for the period of time that are fixed by the commissioner; and
(2) an apprentice at the wages that are approved by the commissioner; or
(3) a learner at the wages and subject to the restrictions and for the periods of time that are fixed by
the commissioner.
AS 23.10.071. Wages For Work Therapy.
(a) For work therapy, as defined in AS 47.37.270 , a participant in a residential drug abuse or alcoholism
treatment program designed to extend more than 120 days may be paid less than the minimum wage prescribed in AS
23.10.050 - 23.10.150 if the rate has been approved by the commissioner under this section and is in compliance
with federal law.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt regulations regarding the payment of wages for work therapy. In adopting
the regulations, the commissioner shall consider whether the work performed by the patient
(1) is solely for the benefit of the patient and is that which is ordinarily carried on by patients in
a residential treatment program;
(2) would ordinarily be performed by full-time employees of the program;
(3) is work that may produce income to the patient, other than wages;
(4) produces goods or services the proceeds of which will economically or otherwise benefit the owners,
operators, or businesses of the rehabilitation program; and
(5) creates an unfair competition with private enterprise because of lower wage standards.
AS 23.10.075. Labor Standards and Safety Division.
There is established in the department the division of labor standards and safety. The director of the division
is responsible to the commissioner. The director shall administer AS 18.60.010 - 18.60.105 and AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150.
AS 23.10.080. Powers and Duties of Division.
The director, or an authorized representative of the director, shall
(1) investigate and ascertain the wages and related conditions and standards of employment of any employee
in the state;
(2) enter the place of business or employment of an employer at reasonable times for the purpose of inspecting
payroll records that relate to the question of wages paid or hours worked;
(3) require and subpoena from an employer a statement in writing, when the director or the representative
considers it necessary, of hours worked by and the wages paid to a person in the employ of the employer, and the
commissioner may require the employer to make the statement under oath;
(4) question an employee in a place of employment during work hours with respect to the wages paid and the
hours worked by the employees;
(5) compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents by subpoena when
necessary for the purpose of a hearing or investigation provided for in AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150.
AS 23.10.085. Scope of Administrative Regulations.
(a) The director may adopt, amend or rescind administrative regulations not inconsistent with the purposes and
provisions of AS 23.10.050 --23.10.150 that are necessary for the administration of AS 23.10.050 --23.10.150.
(b) The regulations may, without limiting the generality of (a) of this section, define terms used in AS 23.10.050
--23.10.150, and restrict or prohibit industrial homework or other acts or practices that the director finds appropriate
to carry out the purpose of AS 23.10.050 --23.10.150, or to prevent the circumvention or evasion of AS 23.10.050
--23.10.150.
(c) The regulations may permit deductions by an employer from the minimum wage applicable under AS 23.10.050 --23.10.150
to employees for the reasonable cost, as determined by the director on an occupation basis, of furnishing board
or lodging if board or lodging is customarily furnished by the employer and used by the employee.
AS 23.10.090. Administrative Procedures.
Regulations adopted or hearings conducted under AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 shall be adopted or conducted and be
subject to judicial review in accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act).
AS 23.10.095. Adoption of Federal Regulations.
The commissioner may adopt regulations and interpretations that are made by the administrator of the Wage and
Hour Division of the federal Department of Labor and that are not inconsistent with AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150.
AS 23.10.100. Employer to Keep Records.
(a) An employer shall keep for a period of at least three years at the place where an employee is employed
a record of the name, address, and occupation of each employee, the rate of pay and the amount paid each pay period
to each employee, the hours worked each day and each workweek by each employee, and other payroll information that
the commissioner may require.
(b) The commissioner or an authorized representative of the commissioner may copy the employer's records
at any reasonable time. An employer shall furnish to the commissioner or the representative on demand a sworn statement
of the employer's records, and the commissioner may require that the sworn statement be made upon forms the commissioner
has prescribed or approved.
AS 23.10.105. Posting Summary Required.
An employer subject to AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 shall keep a summary or abstract of these sections, approved
by the commissioner, posted in a conspicuous location at the place where a person subject to them is employed.
An employer shall be furnished copies of a summary by the state on request without charge.
AS 23.10.110. Remedies of Employee; Attorney Fees; Offers of Judgment; Settlement; Waiver.
(a) An employer who violates a provision of AS 23.10.060 or 23.10.065 is liable to an employee affected
in the amount of unpaid minimum wages, or unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and, except as provided
in (d) of this section, in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.
(b) An action to recover from the employer the wages and damages for which the employer is liable may be
maintained in a competent court by an employee personally and for other employees similarly situated, or an employee
may individually designate in writing an agent or representative to maintain an action for the employee. The consent
shall be filed in the court in which the action is brought. At the request of a person paid less than the amount
to which the person is entitled under AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150, the commissioner may take an assignment in trust
for the employee of the full amount to which the employee is entitled under this section and may bring any legal
action necessary to collect the claim.
(c) The court in an action brought under this section shall, in addition to a judgment awarded to the plaintiff,
allow costs of the action and, except as provided in (e) - (h) of this section, reasonable attorney fees to be
paid by the defendant. The attorney fees in the case of actions brought under this section by the commissioner
shall be remitted by the commissioner to the Department of Revenue. The commissioner may not be required to pay
the filing fee or other costs. The commissioner in case of suit has power to join various claimants against the
same employer in one cause of action.
(d) In an action under (a) of this section to recover unpaid overtime compensation or liquidated damages
for unpaid overtime, if the defendant shows by clear and convincing evidence that the act or omission giving rise
to the action was made in good faith and that the employer had reasonable grounds for believing that the act or
omission was not in violation of AS 23.10.060 , the court may decline to award liquidated damages or may award
an amount of liquidated damages less than the amount set out in (a) of this section.
(e) If the plaintiff prevails in an action for unpaid overtime compensation under (a) of this section, the
court shall award reasonable attorney fees to the plaintiff unless the defendant shows by clear and convincing
evidence that the act or omission giving rise to the action was made in good faith and that the defendant had reasonable
grounds for believing that the act or omission was not in violation of AS 23.10.060 , in which case
(1) the court may award attorney fees to the plaintiff in accordance with court rules; or
(2) if the defendant would be entitled to attorney fees if the action were subject to the standards under
court rule offers of judgment, the court may not award attorney fees to either the plaintiff or the defendant.
(f) If the defendant prevails in an action for unpaid overtime compensation under (a) of this section
and had previously made an offer of judgment to the plaintiff, the court shall award attorney fees to the defendant
unless the plaintiff proves to the satisfaction of the court that the action was both brought and prosecuted in
good faith and that the plaintiff had reasonable grounds for believing that the act or omission was in violation
of AS 23.10.060 . If the court awards attorney fees to the defendant, the award shall be made in accordance with
court rule.
(g) Failure to inquire into Alaska law is not consistent with a claim of good faith under this subsection.
(h) Subsections (d) - (g) of this section do not apply to an action brought under this section by the commissioner.
(i) The commissioner may supervise the payment of the unpaid overtime compensation owing to an employee
under AS 23.10.060 . Payment in full in accordance with an agreement by an employee to settle a claim for unpaid
overtime compensation or liquidated damages for unpaid overtime compensation constitutes a waiver of any right
as to this claim the employee may have under (a) of this section to unpaid overtime compensation or liquidated
damages for unpaid overtime compensation.
(j) In a settlement for unpaid overtime compensation that is not supervised by the department or the court,
an employee is entitled to liquidated damages under (a) of this section unless the employee and the employer enter
into a written settlement agreement in which the employee expressly waives the right to receive liquidated damages.
A private written settlement agreement under this subsection is not valid unless submitted to the department for
review. The department shall review the agreement and approve it if it is fair to the parties. The department shall
approve or deny an agreement within 30 days of receipt. A waiver of liquidated damages may not be a condition of
employment.
AS 23.10.115. Enforcement By Injunction.
If it appears to the commissioner that an employer is engaged in an act or practice that violates or will violate
a provision of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 or of a regulation adopted under these sections, the commissioner may bring
an action in a competent court to enjoin the act or practice, and to enforce compliance with AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150
or with the regulation. Upon a proper showing, a permanent or temporary injunction or restraining order shall be
granted without bond.
AS 23.10.120. Enforcement of Subpoenas.
If a person fails to comply with a subpoena issued under AS 23.10.080 , or if a witness refuses to produce evidence
or to testify to a matter regarding which the witness may be lawfully interrogated, a competent court shall, upon
application of the commissioner or an authorized representative, compel obedience by proceedings for contempt,
as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued by the court or a refusal to testify before
it.
AS 23.10.125. Collective Bargaining.
AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 do not limit the right of employees to bargain collectively through representatives
of their own choosing to establish wages or conditions of work in excess of the applicable minimum under AS 23.10.050
- 23.10.150 or to establish hours of work shorter than the applicable maximum under AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150.
AS 23.10.130. Statute of Limitations.
An action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages under AS 23.10.050 -
23.10.150 is forever barred unless it is started within two years after the cause of action accrues. For the purposes
of this section an action is considered to be started on the date when the complaint is filed.
AS 23.10.135. Violations.
An employer violates AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 if the employer (1) hinders or delays the commissioner or an authorized
representative of the commissioner in the performance of their duties in the enforcement of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150;
(2) refuses to admit the commissioner or an authorized representative to any place of employment; (3) fails to
keep or falsifies a record required under the provisions of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150; (4) refuses to make a record
accessible, or to furnish a sworn statement of the record, or to give information required for the enforcement
of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150, upon demand, to the commissioner or an authorized representative; (5) fails to post
an abstract of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 as required by AS 23.10.105 ; (6) discharges or in any other manner discriminates
against an employee because the employee has filed a complaint, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any
proceeding under or related to AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150, or has testified or is about to testify in such a proceeding.
AS 23.10.140. Penalty.
An employer who violates a provision of AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150, or of any regulation or order of the commissioner
issued under it, upon conviction is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $2,000, or by imprisonment
for not less than 10 nor more than 90 days, or by both. Each day a violation occurs constitutes a separate offense.
AS 23.10.145. Definitions.
If not defined in this title or in regulations adopted under this title, terms used in AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150
shall be defined as they are defined in 29 U.S.C. 201 - 219 ( Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938), as amended, or
the regulations adopted under those sections.
The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: APPLICATION AS TO WORK
PERFORMED BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT. (a) This Act applies retrospectively to work performed before
the effective date of this Act for purposes of any claim or proceeding based on AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 (Alaska
Wage and Hour Act) that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. (b) This Act does not apply to work
performed before the effective date of this Act for purposes of any claim or proceeding based on AS 23.10.050 -
23.10.150 that is filed before the effective date of this Act.