Alaska Overtime Pay Law

Employers in Alaska must conform with these state rules regarding overtime pay for employees.

In Alaska, overtime must be paid at one and one-half times the employee's regular rate for hours in excess of eight daily or 40 weekly, including work performed under most flexible hour plans.

Employees not covered by the minimum wage requirement are not entitled to overtime pay. In addition, employees working for employers with less than four employees are not covered.

Exemptions From the General Overtime Provision

The following are exempt from Alaska's overtime pay requirement:

• agricultural or horticultural product packers and canners
• small newspaper employees
• switchboard operators
• certain telegraphic or communication employees
• seamen
• workers in small forestry or lumbering operations
• outside buyers of poultry
• casual employees
• hospital employees providing medical services
• employees working under a state-approved or collective bargaining flexible work-hour plan
• small mining employers, taxi drivers, line-haul truck drivers
• community health aides
• certain auto and truck mechanics
• certain airline employees under shift trading arrangements

Employers of line-haul truck drivers that use alternate rates of overtime pay must provide a written explanation of the alternate rate, which must be signed by employees.

Effective March 24, 2011, the exemption for hospital employees providing medical services is clarified to provide that the provision of medical services means the necessary hands-on, medical functions, procedures and protocols that an employee renders personally to an individual patient, where the services involve face-to-face or other direct interaction between employee and patient.

Exempt retail and service establishment employees. The minimum salary for exempt employees in retail and service establishments who spend up to 40 percent of their time performing duties that are nonexempt is two times the state minimum wage for the first 40 hours of employment each week. The minimum salary that must be paid to satisfy the white collar exemptions for overtime payments for retail and service establishment employees is $572 per week.

Exempt professional employees. An individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, executive or professional capacity must 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, in order to be exempt from the overtime pay requirements. An exemption is added for computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, or other similarly skilled workers.