Title 23, Labor and Workers' Compensation

(a) The Alaska Workers' Compensation Board consists of a southern panel of three members sitting for the first judicial district, two northern panels of three members sitting for the second and fourth judicial districts, five southcentral panels of three members each sitting for …

(a) There is established in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development the Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission. The commission has jurisdiction to hear appeals from final decisions and orders of the board under this chapter. Jurisdiction of the commission is limited t…

(a) The commission shall be the exclusive and final authority for the hearing and determination of all questions of law and fact arising under this chapter in those matters that have been appealed to the commission, except for an appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court. The commission…

(a) The chair of the commission shall exercise general supervision over the office of the commission and over appeals and shall direct the administrative functions of the commission. The chair of the commission shall serve as the executive officer of the commission and shall have…

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, compensation or benefits are payable under this chapter for disability or death or the need for medical treatment of an employee if the disability or death of the employee or the employee's need for medical treatment arose out of and…

(a) If an employee, while working outside the territorial limits of this state, suffers an injury on account of which the employee, or in the event of the employee's death, the employee's dependents, would have been entitled to the benefits provided by this chapter had the injury…

(a) At any time after death, or after 30 days subsequent to the date of the injury, the employer and the employee or the beneficiary or beneficiaries, as the case may be, have the right to reach an agreement in regard to a claim for injury or death under this chapter, but a memor…

(a) If on account of disability or death for which compensation is payable under this chapter the person entitled to the compensation believes that a third person other than the employer or a fellow employee is liable for damages, the person need not elect whether to receive comp…

(a) A person entitled to compensation under this chapter as a result of injury occurring at the job site of a construction project may not bring a civil action to recover damages for that injury against a design professional or an employee of a design professional who provides pr…

This chapter constitutes part of every contract of hire, express or implied, and every contract of hire shall be construed as an agreement on the part of the employer to pay and on the part of the employee to accept compensation in the manner provided in this chapter for all pers…

An employee who knowingly makes a false statement in writing as to the employee's physical condition in response to a medical inquiry, or in a medical examination, after a conditional offer of employment may not receive benefits under this chapter if (1) the employer relied upon …

(a) An insurer may not enter into or issue a policy of insurance under this chapter until its policy form has been submitted to and approved by the director of the division of insurance. The director of the division of insurance may not approve the policy form of an insurance com…

A policy of a company insuring the payment of compensation under this chapter is considered to contain the provisions set out in this section. (1) The insurer assumes in full all the obligations to pay physician's fees, nurse's charges, hospital services, hospital supplies, medic…

If the provisions of this chapter require insurance rates adjustments, they must be made in strict compliance with the rate regulation provisions of state law.

(a) There is created a second injury fund, administered by the commissioner. Money in the second injury fund may only be paid for the benefit of those persons entitled to payment of benefits from the second injury fund under this chapter. Payments from the second injury fund must…

(a) The director shall select and employ a reemployment benefits administrator. The director may authorize the administrator to select and employ additional staff. The administrator is in the partially exempt service under AS 39.25.120. (b) The administrator shall (1) enforce reg…

(a) The stay-at-work benefits program is established in the division. The division shall designate a member of the division staff as coordinator of the stay-at-work benefits program. (b) Within 14 days after an employee's election under AS 23.30.041(c) to participate in the progr…

(a) An employer is liable for and shall secure the payment to employees of the compensation payable under AS 23.30.041, 23.30.050, 23.30.095, 23.30.145, and 23.30.180 — 23.30.215. If the employer is a subcontractor and fails to secure the payment of compensation to its employees,…

The liability of an employer for medical treatment is not affected by the fact that the employee was injured through the fault or negligence of a third party not in the same employ, until notice of election to sue has been given as required by AS 23.30.015(a) or suit has been bro…

The liability of an employer prescribed in AS 23.30.045 is exclusive and in place of all other liability of the employer and any fellow employee to the employee, the employee's legal representative, husband or wife, parents, dependents, next of kin, and anyone otherwise entitled …

(a) An employer is conclusively presumed to have elected to pay compensation directly to employees for injuries sustained arising out of and in the course of the employment according to the provisions of this chapter, until notice in writing of insurance, stating the name and add…

An employer shall keep a record with respect to an injury to an employee. The record must contain the information of disease, other disability, or death with respect to an injury that the division requires, and must be available to inspection by the division or by a state authori…

(a) Within 10 days from the date the employer has knowledge of an injury or death or from the date the employer has knowledge of a disease or infection, alleged by the employee or on behalf of the employee to have arisen out of and in the course of the employment, the employer sh…

(a) An employer under this chapter, unless exempted, shall either insure and keep insured for the employer's liability under this chapter in an insurance company or association duly authorized to transact the business of workers' compensation insurance in this state, or shall fur…

(a) If an employer fails to comply with AS 23.30.075 the employer may not escape liability for personal injury or death sustained by an employee when the injury sustained arises out of and in the usual course of the employment because (1) the employee assumed the risks inherent t…

(a) The workers' compensation benefits guaranty fund is established as a separate fund in the state treasury to carry out the purposes of this section. The fund is composed of civil penalty payments made by employers under AS 23.30.080, income earned on investment of the money in…

(a) An employer subject to this chapter, unless exempted, shall initially file evidence of compliance with the insurance provisions of this chapter with the division, in the form prescribed by the director. The employer shall also give evidence of compliance within 10 days after …

If an employer has complied with the provisions of this chapter relating to self-insurance and has paid annual service fees assessed under AS 23.05.067, the board shall issue the employer a certificate that shall remain in force for a period fixed by the board. The board may, upo…

A political subdivision may elect to provide benefits and compensation to its volunteer ambulance attendants, police officers, firefighters, or search and rescue personnel by obtaining insurance that would provide its volunteer ambulance attendants, police officers, firefighters,…

(a) The employer shall furnish medical, surgical, and other attendance or treatment, nurse and hospital service, medicine, crutches, and apparatus for the period which the nature of the injury or the process of recovery requires, not exceeding two years from and after the date of…

(a) All fees and other charges for medical treatment or service are subject to regulation by the board consistent with this section. A fee or other charge for medical treatment or service (1) rendered in the state may not exceed the lowest of (A) the usual, customary, and reasona…

Article 3. Compensation Proceedings. Under AS 44.62.245(a)(2), in adopting or amending regulations under this chapter, the department may incorporate future amended versions of a document or reference material incorporated by reference if the document or reference material is one…

(a) Notice to an employer of an injury or death in respect to which compensation is payable under this chapter shall be given within 15 days after the date of the injury or death. (b) The notice must be in a format prescribed by the director and contain the name and address of th…

(a) The right to compensation for disability under this chapter is barred unless a claim for it is filed within two years after the employee has knowledge of the nature of the employee's disability and its relation to the employment and after disablement. However, the maximum tim…

[Repealed or reserved.]

(a) Upon written request, an employee shall provide written authority to the employer, carrier, rehabilitation specialist, or reemployment benefits administrator to obtain medical and rehabilitation information relative to the employee's injury. The request must include notice of…

(a) If an employee objects to a request for written authority under AS 23.30.107, the employee must file a petition with the board seeking a protective order within 14 days after service of the request. If the employee fails to file a petition and fails to deliver the written aut…

(a) Subject to the provisions of AS 23.30.105, a claim for compensation may be filed with the board in accordance with its regulations at any time after the first seven days of disability following an injury, or at any time after death, and the board may hear and determine all qu…

(a) A person is not required to attend as a witness in a proceeding before the board at a place more than 100 miles from the person's place of residence, unless the person's lawful mileage and fee for one day's attendance is first paid or tendered to the person; but the testimony…

(a) There is a presumption that an employee's claim for compensation as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder is within the provisions of this chapter if the employee (1) is employed or was employed in an occupation listed in (b)(2) of this section; and (2) while employed or…

(a) In a proceeding for the enforcement of a claim for compensation under this chapter it is presumed, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, that (1) the claim comes within the provisions of this chapter; (2) sufficient notice of the claim has been given; (3) th…

(a) There is a presumption that a claim for compensation for disability as a result of the diseases described in (b) of this section for the occupations listed under (b) of this section is within the provisions of this chapter. This presumption of coverage may be rebutted by a pr…

The board has the sole power to determine the credibility of a witness. A finding by the board concerning the weight to be accorded a witness's testimony, including medical testimony and reports, is conclusive even if the evidence is conflicting or susceptible to contrary conclus…

(a) A compensation order becomes effective when filed with the office of the board as provided in AS 23.30.110, and, unless proceedings to reconsider, suspend, or set aside the order are instituted as provided in this chapter, the order becomes final on the 31st day after it is f…

(a) A party in interest may appeal a compensation order issued by the board to the commission within 30 days after the compensation order is filed with the office of the board under AS 23.30.110. The director may intervene in an appeal. If a party in interest is not represented b…

(a) An appeal from a decision of the board under this chapter, and other proceedings under this section, shall be heard and decided by a three-member panel of the commission. An appeal panel of the commission must include the chair of the commission. The chair of the commission s…