Alaska’s recently approved “Ballot Measure No. 1” mandates that all employers provide paid sick leave to their employees.
Here’s a summary of the new AK paid sick leave mandate:
- Starting July 1, 2025, employers in Alaska will be required to provide paid sick leave to their employees.
- How Paid Sick Leave Accrues:
- For employers with 15 or more employees: Employees will earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours per year.
- For employers with fewer than 15 employees: Employees will earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, but the total will be capped at 40 hours per year.
- Employees who are exempt from overtime under federal law are assumed to work a 40-hour week for sick leave purposes, unless their normal workweek is shorter.
- Unused paid sick leave can roll over to the next year, but employees won’t be able to use more than the yearly cap.
- Sick leave will start accruing either on the employee’s first day of work or on July 1, 2025—whichever comes later.
- Employers who already offer paid leave that meets or exceeds these requirements won’t need to provide extra paid sick leave.
- Employees who transfer within the same company will keep any sick leave they’ve already accrued. If an employee is rehired within six months, their previously accrued sick leave will be reinstated.
- If a company is taken over by a new employer, employees will keep all of their accrued and unused paid sick leave.
Payroll Mate users can track sick time off by updating the “Vacation / Sick Hours Settings” in the employee setup.