Follow us on LinkedIn to see future News.
May 1, 2025
In 2024, Alaska voters approved a ballot measure providing, among other things, for paid sick leave for Alaska employees, with certain limited exceptions (e.g., prisoners, apprentices, and domestic workers in a private home). The new law will go into effect on July 1, 2025. Employees will begin to accrue paid sick leave on that date or at the commencement of employment, whichever is later.
The findings accompanying the ballot measure note that the states of Washington, Oregon, and California require a minimum amount of sick paid leave for personal and family care, leading to workforce challenges for Alaska.
Amount of Paid Sick Leave
Employers in Alaska with 15 or more employees must allow their employees to accrue and use one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 sick leave hours per year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must allow their employees to accrue and use up to 40 sick leave hours per year. Employees may carry over unused sick leave, subject to those limits. Exempt employees will be assumed to work 40 hours per work week unless their normal work week is fewer than 40 hours.
Employees may use paid sick leave in hourly increments or in the smallest increment the employer’s payroll system uses to account for other absences.
Employers are not required to pay out accrued but unused paid sick leave upon the termination of employment.
Acceptable Bases for Paid Sick Leave
Employees will be permitted to use paid sick leave not only for personal medical issues and for assisting family members (defined broadly) with medical issues, but also for absences due to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, provided the leave is to allow the employee to obtain medical or psychological attention, services from a victim’s aid organization, relocation or steps to secure an existing residence, or legal services.
Unless otherwise required by law, an employer may not require disclosure of the details of the health or safety information of an employee or family member as a condition of providing paid sick leave, and must treat that information as a confidential medical record.
Employers May Take No Adverse Action
Employers may not engage in retaliation or discrimination or take any other adverse action against an employee who uses or attempts to use paid sick leave.
Liability for Violation
An employer who violates the law is liable for an employee’s “lost wages or damages as may be appropriate and allowable under state law to remedy the violation.”
Steps for Employers to Take in Advance of Effective Date
In advance of the July 1 effective date, employers should review their existing policies and procedures regarding sick leave, update them as necessary, communicate any changes to their employees, and train those employees who supervise employee leaves.
The author of this article, Karen Edginton Milner, is a member of the Bars of Louisiana and Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Alaska, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
