Alaska OKs paid sick leave, minimum wage initiative

Alaska voters are poised to approve a ballot initiative that will:

• Require employers to provide paid sick leave.
• Raise the state minimum wage.
• Ban captive audience meetings.

At the time of publication, Ballot Measure 1 was leading by 57-43 margin, according to unofficial election results.

The state Division of Elections expects to certify the results on November 30.

Paid sick leave

If certified as expected, Ballot Initiative 1 will require employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave accrual for every 30 hours worked.

Small employers with fewer than 15 employees will be required to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, and large employers with 15 or more employees will be required to provide 56 hours of paid sick leave per year.

Employees will begin accruing leave at the start of employment or July 1, 2025, whichever is later. They will be entitled to use leave as soon as it is accrued.

Employers must provide paid sick leave for several qualifying reasons, including:

• The mental or physical illness of an employee or an employee’s family member.
• Preventative medical care for an employee or an employee’s family member.
• Absences necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

When the need for leave is foreseeable, employees are required to make a good-faith effort to notify their employer and schedule leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt operations. It is not clear how this requirement will be enforced.

The law also includes retaliation protections and notice-and-posting requirements.

Minimum wage

Ballot Initiative 1 also will increase the state minimum wage to:

• $13.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2025.
• $14.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2026.
• $15.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2027.

After that, the minimum wage will be adjusted for inflation on January 1 of every year.

Captive audience meeting ban

Ballot Initiative 1 also will prohibit employers from requiring employees to attend meetings intended to communicate the employer’s opinions about unions and other religious or political matters.

Effective July 1, 2025, employers are prohibited from taking an adverse employment action against an employee — or threatening to do so — for refusing to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or to listen to communications that are intended to convey the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters. Political matters are defined as matters relating to elections, political parties, candidates, proposed legislation or regulations, and the decision to join or support a political party or labor organization.

Similar captive audience laws have been enacted by California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Vermont and Washington in the past year.