Title 23, Labor and Workers' Compensation

(a) An agreement by an employee to pay a portion of the premium paid by the employer to a carrier or to contribute to a benefit fund or department maintained by the employer for the purpose of providing compensation or medical services and supplies as required by this chapter is …

(a) A resident of the state who temporarily volunteers to participate in a search and rescue training exercise or a search and rescue activity and who suffers injury or death during the course and within the scope of training for or providing search and rescue services is conside…

(a) An employer may not discriminate in hiring, promotion, or retention policies or practices against an employee who has in good faith filed a claim for or received benefits under this chapter. An employer who violates this section is liable to the employee for damages to be ass…

(a) A person who (1) knowingly makes a false or misleading statement, representation, or submission related to a benefit under this chapter; (2) knowingly assists, abets, solicits, or conspires in making a false or misleading submission affecting the payment, coverage, or other b…

(a) An employer required to secure the payment of compensation under this chapter who fails to do so is guilty of a class B felony if the amount involved exceeds $25,000 or a class C felony if the amount involved is $25,000 or less. If the employer is a corporation, its president…

(a) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, is punishable for each offense by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both, if the person (1) receives a fee, other consideration, or a gratuity on account of any service…

An employer's safety inspector is not liable for civil damages for an injury to an employee of that employer resulting from an act or omission in performing or failing to perform a loss control service, a workplace safety inspection, or a safety advisory service provided in conne…

(a) The director shall establish a section within the division for the investigation of fraudulent or misleading acts under AS 23.30.250 and other fraudulent acts relating to workers' compensation. (b) The director may investigate facts reported under this section and may refer f…

In this chapter, (1) “adoption” or “adopted” means legal adoption before the time of the injury; (2) “arising out of and in the course of employment” includes employer-required or supplied travel to and from a remote job site; activities performed at the direction or under the co…

This chapter may be cited as Alaska Workers' Compensation Act.

There is within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a Fishermen's Fund Advisory and Appeals Council.

The council is composed of the commissioner of labor and workforce development or a person designated by the commissioner and five members appointed by the governor for overlapping five year terms. The governor shall appoint one member from each of the following districts: Distri…

The commissioner of labor and workforce development or the person designated by the commissioner serves as the chair of the council.

(a) The council shall (1) review all denials of benefits made by the person responsible for the administration of the fund; and (2) make all initial determinations regarding claims for additional benefits under AS 23.35.140. (b) Under regulations adopted by the department, the co…

The department may adopt regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including those that are necessary or advisable to protect the fund by limiting or suspending payments from the fund. The regulations must be uniform in application.

(a) There is created a fund, designated as the “fishermen's fund.” The Department of Revenue is the custodian of the fund, and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall administer it. The fund shall be composed of (1) 39 percent of the money derived by the state fro…

A fisherman, upon becoming disabled, is entitled to receive benefits as follows: immediately after the fisherman sustains an injury or disability arising out of an accident directly connected with operations as a fisherman, either ashore in the state or in Alaska water, or suffer…

The department may pay the costs, within the maximum limitations, of emergency treatment, transportation, medical care, and hospitalization, necessitated by a cardio-vascular disease, if the department determines that the disease is attributable, directly or indirectly, to the fi…

A fisherman is also entitled to such assistance after discharge from the hospital during period of convalescence as the department allows in consideration of the condition of the fund.

The department may pay out of the fund all reasonable transportation charges incurred under AS 23.35.080 and 23.35.090, including cost of returning the fisherman to the boat or home of the fisherman or to another place that reasonably meets with the fisherman's convenience, and t…

In carrying out this chapter, the department may enter into contracts or other arrangements with hospitals and doctors in the state for furnishing care on an annual basis to persons entitled to benefits. Contracting under this section is governed by AS 36.30 (State Procurement Co…

In providing care the department shall provide the type and quality of treatment that will restore the fisherman to health and productivity, if possible. The department may enter into cooperative arrangements with agencies of the federal government, other states and territories, …

Except for compelling reasons, compensation may not be paid for the care of any one person involving a single injury or disability beyond a period of one year from the date of initial allowance.

(a) Except for compelling reasons and except as provided in (c) and (d) of this section, (1) compensation may not be paid for medical care or hospitalization furnished before the ascertainable time of injury, or before authorization in the case of disability caused by an occupati…

(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this section, if a fisherman files a claim for benefits under this chapter and also files a claim against the protection and indemnity insurance policy of the vessel owner, the vessel owner is entitled to receive a benefit, not to exceed t…

In this chapter, (1) “approved medical facilities” and “medical care” include the facilities of, or the care and treatment prescribed or performed by, a practitioner of chiropractic licensed by the state under AS 08.20; (2) “council” means the Fishermen's Fund Advisory and Appeal…

A labor contract executed in this state by a labor organization that has no local in this state or which contract is not to be executed by one or more of its locals in this state may not be enforced in the courts of this state unless the labor organization has registered with the…

For the purpose of AS 23.40.020 — 23.40.040 “labor organization” includes an organization constituted wholly or partly to bargain collectively or deal with employers, including the state and its political subdivisions, concerning grievances, terms, or conditions of employment or …

The commissioner of transportation and public facilities or an authorized representative, in accordance with AS 23.40.020 — 23.40.030, may negotiate and enter into collective bargaining agreements concerning wages, hours, working conditions, and other employment benefits with the…

The legislature finds that joint decision-making is the modern way of administering government. If public employees have been granted the right to share in the decision-making process affecting wages and working conditions, they have become more responsive and better able to exch…

The parties may not negotiate terms contrary to the (1) reemployment rights for injured state employees under AS 39.25.158; (2) reemployment rights of the organized militia under AS 26.05.075; (3) authority of the Department of Health under AS 47.27.035 to assign Alaska temporary…

Public employees may self-organize and form, join, or assist an organization to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

The labor relations agency shall decide in each case, in order to assure to employees the fullest freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, based on such factors as community of interes…

(a) The labor relations agency shall investigate a petition if it is submitted in a manner prescribed by the labor relations agency and is (1) by an employee or group of employees or an organization acting in their behalf alleging that 30 percent of the employees of a proposed ba…

(a) A public employer or an agent of a public employer may not (1) interfere with, restrain, or coerce an employee in the exercise of the employee's rights guaranteed in AS 23.40.080; (2) dominate or interfere with the formation, existence, or administration of an organization; (…

If a verified written complaint by or for a person claiming to be aggrieved by a practice prohibited by AS 23.40.110, or a written accusation that a person subject to AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260 has engaged in a prohibited practice, is filed with the labor relations agency, it shall…

If the labor relations agency fails to eliminate the prohibited practice by conciliation and to obtain voluntary compliance with AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260, or, before it attempts conciliation, it may serve a copy of the complaint or accusation upon the respondent. The complaint or…

If the labor relations agency finds that a person named in the written complaint or accusation has engaged in a prohibited practice, the labor relations agency shall issue and serve on the person an order or decision requiring the person to cease and desist from the prohibited pr…

The labor relations agency may apply to the superior court in the judicial district in which the prohibited practice occurred for an order enjoining the prohibited acts specified in the order or decision of the labor relations agency. Upon a showing by the labor relations agency …

(a) For the purpose of the investigations, proceedings, or hearings which the labor relations agency considers necessary to carry out the provisions of AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260, the labor relations agency may issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and…

The labor relations agency may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to carry out the provisions of AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260.

A person who violates a provision of an order or decision of the labor relations agency is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.

If, after a reasonable period of negotiation over the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, a deadlock exists between a public employer and an organization, the labor relations agency may appoint a competent, impartial, disinterested person to act as mediator in any dispute…

(a) For purposes of this section, public employees are employed to perform services in one of the three following classes: (1) those services which may not be given up for even the shortest period of time; (2) those services which may be interrupted for a limited period but not f…

Notwithstanding any provision of AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260 to the contrary, an agreement between the employer subject to AS 39.20.500 — 39.20.550 and an employee bargaining organization that does not contain benefit provisions at least as beneficial to the employee as those provid…

(a) Upon the completion of negotiations between an organization and a public employer, if a settlement is reached, the employer shall reduce it to writing in the form of an agreement. The agreement may include a term for which it will remain in effect, not to exceed three years. …