Alaska Workers' Compensation: What you need to know

All employers in Alaska, including state employers, must cover their employees with workers' compensation insurance. High school students engaged in work-study programs outside of school are considered state employees for purposes of workers' compensation. Employees injured out of state are covered if they were hired in Alaska and work principally in the state. Independent contractors must cover their own employees and may be held liable for claims by employees of their uninsured subcontractors. If the employer is a contractor and fails to provide compensation to its employees or the employees of a subcontractor, the project owner will be liable for covering the employees. Officers of corporations, sole proprietors, and partnership members must be covered as well, but executive officers of municipal, religious, and nonprofit corporations are only considered employees if the corporation specifically elects to cover them.

Organizations that contract with the state must submit proof that they are insured for workers' compensation. Only the following occupational categories are not covered under the workers' compensation law (AK Stat. Sec. 23.30.011 et seq.):

• Cleaning persons
• Part-time babysitters
• Taxi drivers
• Entertainers and sports officials employed on a contractual basis
• Harvesters and similar part-time or transient help
• Sports officials for amateur events

"No-fault" system. Workers' compensation is a no-fault system. Employees receive compensation without having to prove that the employer was at fault for the injury. They need only show that the injury arose "out of and in the course of employment." This no-fault aspect distinguishes workers' compensation from ordinary "tort" law, which provides ...