Alaska State Requirements for Holiday Pay

Alaska, known as The Last Frontier, observes the usual federal holidays familiar to most citizens of the United States such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. They also add in Seward’s Day which commemorates the signing of the Alaska Purchase treaty in 1867 which was negotiated with Russia by the then-Secretary of State William H. Seward, as well as Alaska Day honoring the anniversary of the formal transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States following the Alaska Purchase.

The state, however, does not require its employers to pay workers holiday pay. The disbursement of holiday pay depends on the individual employer’s policy and is usually agreed upon between both parties when the worker is hired. If an employer requires its employees to work on a holiday, either federal or an Alaska-specific holiday, the employee may receive straight-time for the hours actually worked plus additional pay according to the employer’s policy on holiday pay. For instance, employees could receive regular pay for working 8 hours plus 8 hours of holiday pay. Additionally, employees are not entitled to overtime pay simply because they worked on an official holiday. Overtime pay is time-and-a-half pay for hours over the basic 40 hour week at 8 hours per day.

There are some exceptions made as to what is considered overtime according to the specific job. Some of these exceptions to the rule include those employers who employ three or fewer people during the course of regular business, various agricultural employees, service employees such as those in fields of medicine, small mining operations, etc. The specific exceptions can be found in Alaska Statutes AS 23.10.055 and AS 23.10.060.