ALASKA - Workers’ Rights

Definition of agricultural worker under state law:

• Alaska state law adopts the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) definition of agriculture. (ALASKA STAT § 23.10.055(a)(1))

Wages and Overtime

Minimum Wage

• Alaska has a state minimum wage law. (ALASKA STAT § 23.10.065)
• Current state minimum wage is $10.85 effective Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023.
• The minimum wage rate is indexed for inflation and automatically adjusted each year for increases in prices.
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state minimum wage. (ALASKA STAT § 23.10.055(a)(1))

Overtime

• Alaska has a state law regarding overtime pay. (ALASKA STAT § 23.10.060)
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state overtime law. (ALASKA STAT § 23.10.060 (d)(4))

State Enforcement Agency

Alaska Department of Labor

Website: http://labor.alaska.gov/lss/whhome.htm
Relevant Forms: http://labor.alaska.gov/lss/forms/wageclaim.PDF

Occupational Safety and Health

Workers’ Compensation

• Agricultural workers are covered by the state workers’ compensation law, but it limits coverage to certain classifications of agricultural employers or workers.
• Alaska state law does not require workers’ compensation coverage for workers who are “harvest help and similar part-time or transient help.” ALASKA STAT. § 23.30.230(a)(3))

State Enforcement Agency:
Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Workers’ Compensation

Website: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/home.htm
Relevant Forms: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/forms/wc6106.pdf 

Field Sanitation

• Alaska has no state law regarding field sanitation. 

State Enforcement Agency:
Alaska Occupational Safety and Health

Website: https://labor.alaska.gov/lss/oshhome.htm 

Pesticide Safety

• Alaska has a state law regarding pesticide safety in agriculture. (ALASKA STAT. § 46.03.320; ALASKA ADMIN. CODE tit. 8, § 90 – Pesticide Control Program)
• Health care providers are required by law to report any known or suspected pesticide poisoning or illness. (Alaska Stat. § 18.15.370)State Enforcement Agency:
  Division of Environmental Health, Pesticide Control ProgramWebsite: http://dec.alaska.gov/eh/pest/how-to-report-pesticide-problem/
  Reporting for health care providers: https://dec.alaska.gov/eh/pest/information-for-health-care-providers/ 

Right to Join Unions and Collective Bargaining in Agriculture

• There is no provision (or judicial interpretation of a provision) in the state constitution that grants farmworkers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation or to engage in collective bargaining with their employers.
• There is no state statute that grants agricultural workers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation (such as being fired, demoted or disciplined) or to engage in collective bargaining with agricultural employers.

State Legal Services Organizations

Alaska Legal Services Corporation:
https://www.alsc-law.org/