Does Alaska require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Alaska requires workers' compensation from the first employee: the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act defines an employer as anyone employing one or more persons in a business carried on in the state (AS 23.30.395), and the Division of Workers' Compensation says there are no exemptions by type of business. Sole proprietors, partners, and corporate officers or LLC members who own at least 10 percent are not their own employees, and there is no state fund to buy from.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Alaska requires workers' comp?
One employee is enough. The Division of Workers' Compensation states that every employer with one or more employees in Alaska must carry workers' compensation insurance unless the Workers' Compensation Board has approved it to self-insure. Exceptions depend on the work a person does, not the kind of business: a part-time babysitter, a non-commercial cleaning person, harvest help and similar part-time or transient help, amateur sports officials, contract entertainers, commercial fishermen, and a few others listed in AS 23.30.230.
Alaska has no reciprocity with any other state, the Division says, so an out-of-state employer with anyone working in Alaska must insure that exposure under the Alaska Act, whether or not the worker is based there.
Source: Alaska Division of Workers' Compensation, Requirements for Employers, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Alaska?
Under AS 23.30.240, a corporate executive officer or an LLC member who owns at least 10 percent of the business is not its employee, and officers of municipal and nonprofit corporations are not employees at all. The corporation or LLC can bring any of them back in by naming them in its policy. Sole proprietors and partners are not employees either, but each may apply in writing to the insurer to be covered (AS 23.30.239). The Division adds that these owners must still cover their employees, family members and friends included.
Calling someone a 1099 contractor does not settle it. AS 23.30.230(a)(12) treats a worker as an independent contractor only if they have an express contract, control how the work is done, carry most of their own costs, hold the licenses the work requires, file business taxes, and meet at least two more tests, such as serving two or more customers a year.
Source: Alaska Statutes 23.30.240, checked .
What happens to a Alaska employer with no workers' comp?
At the Division's request, the Workers' Compensation Board can assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each employee for each day an Alaska employer goes uninsured (AS 23.30.080(f)). The Division can also get a stop order barring the use of employee labor; violating it brings $1,000 a day and a three-year bar from public contracts. A conviction for failing to insure carries a $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail, and the people running an uninsured corporation are personally liable for its workers' benefits (AS 23.30.075(b)).
Source: Alaska Statutes 23.30.080, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Alaska?
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Division of Workers' Compensation enforces the requirement. Its Special Investigations Unit looks into uninsured employers and asks the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board to assess penalties for lapses in coverage and stop-order violations. The Division of Insurance regulates the carriers and their rates, not the employers.
Source: Alaska Division of Workers' Compensation, checked .
Where do Alaska employers buy coverage?
Alaska is a private-market state with no state fund. Employers buy from an insurer admitted in Alaska and licensed by the Division of Insurance, usually through an agent or broker. An employer no commercial carrier will write can buy through Alaska's Assigned Risk Pool, which NCCI administers, so an eligible employer is not left without a market.
Source: Alaska Division of Workers' Compensation, Requirements for Employers, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Alaska?
Alaska is an NCCI state. AS 21.39.043 requires the licensed rating organization to file prospective loss costs and assigned risk pool rates with the Division of Insurance every year, and in Alaska that organization is the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Class codes, experience mods, and advisory loss costs come from NCCI; each carrier files its own rates built on them with the Division of Insurance.
Source: Alaska Statutes 21.39.043, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Alaska?
No. Alaska has no owner waiver or exemption certificate to file: the owner and officer exemptions apply automatically under the statute. What Alaska does require on paper is evidence of coverage. Under AS 23.30.085 an employer must file evidence of compliance with the Division, and give it again within 10 days after a policy expires or is cancelled; in practice the carrier reports each new and renewal policy to the Division through NCCI's proof-of-coverage system.
Whether a business is or was insured is public record in Alaska, and anyone can check a past or current date on the Division's online coverage verification service. Hiring contractors check because AS 23.30.045 makes a contractor liable for an uninsured subcontractor's workers.
Source: Alaska Statutes 23.30.085, checked .
Sorting out Alaska workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Alaska requirement in front of you says. We will say whether a policy, a waiver, or an exclusion fits.
This is general insurance information, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Statutes, agency instructions, policy forms, and the facts of the business control.
Workers’ comp requirements in every state
Each state page gives the employee threshold, the owner and officer exemptions, the penalty for going without, the rating bureau, the market, the enforcing agency, and the exemption filing, each with its statute or agency source.
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The hub, and the Alaska pages that go deeper
Alaska workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Alaska with only one employee?+
Yes. The Division of Workers' Compensation says every employer with one or more employees in Alaska must carry it, and family members and friends who work in the business count. The carve-outs in AS 23.30.230 turn on the kind of work, such as a part-time babysitter or harvest help, not on how small the business is.
Does an Alaska LLC owner need workers' comp for themselves?+
Not if they own at least 10 percent. Under AS 23.30.240 an LLC member or corporate executive officer with a 10 percent stake is not an employee, and nothing has to be filed to claim that. The LLC can still cover a member by naming them in its policy, which some hiring contractors ask for.
My business is based in another state. Do I need Alaska coverage?+
If you have employees working in Alaska, generally yes. The Division says Alaska has no reciprocity agreements and that out-of-state employers must insure their Alaska exposure, from an insurer admitted in Alaska. Confirm your current policy lists Alaska before the work starts.