Alaska Employment Law

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Alaska law offers some protection to the employee who is brought to the job by the employer, and then is stranded there without fault. 

The statute.  Alaska Statutes 23.10.380-400 provide:

Sec. 23.10.380. Right to return transportation.

(a) An employer who furnishes, finances, agrees to furnish or finance, or in any way provides transportation for a person from the place of hire to a point inside or outside the state to employ the person shall provide the person with return transportation to the place of hire from which transportation was furnished or financed, or to a destination agreed upon by the parties, with transportation to be furnished or financed

(1) on or after the termination of employment for a cause considered good and sufficient by the department, beyond the control of the person, or on or after the termination of the contract of employment or a renewal of the contract; and

(2) upon the request of the person or the department made within 45 days after the termination of employment.

(b) Upon the termination of employment the subsistence of the employee may not continue longer than 10 days after the termination or until transportation is available, whichever occurs first.

Sec. 23.10.385. Enforcement by civil action.

(a) The department may take a written assignment of a right of action provided by AS 23.10.380 , and may prosecute the action. The department may join various employees in one claim and in case of suit may join them in one action.

(b) The general provisions of law respecting wage collection suits brought by the department in behalf of employees apply in an action brought under this section.

Sec. 23.10.390. Construction of contracts.

AS 23.10.375 - 23.10.400 are considered a part of every contract of hire involving transportation of an employee to and from this state or from one part of the state to another.

The regulations.  The Alaska Department of Labor has issued regulations at 8 AAC 20 that expand upon the bare bones of the statute.  The department has also proposed to amend those regulations.  The comment period for the amendments expires October 8th.

A summary.  Putting the statute and regulations together, the law is as follows:  An  Alaska employer who has paid the employee’s transportation to the worksite must provide the employee with return transportation and subsistence if the the employee timely requests the transportation and/or subsistence, and if the employee

quit the job because

     the employer had misrepresented the wages,        conditions of employment, or lodging; or

     the working conditions or employer-provided lodging were unsafe or unhealthy;

or

was fired from the job for reasons other than

     falsifying the employment application;

     intoxication;

     fighting; or

     a prolonged, unexcused absence from work.

So, an employer must pay return transportation if fired the employee for poor performance, or for insubordination, but need not furnish return transportation if the employee quit to take a better job, or because the employer refused to give a discretionary raise.

The “right to return transportation” means payment of a) the costs of transporting the employee back to the original place of hire; and b) up to 10 days of either employer-furnished board and lodging or $100/day.  It does not include costs of returning the employee’s family (even if the employer paid such costs to the place of work), and does not include costs of shipping the employee’s belongings to the place of origin (even if the employer paid such costs to the place of work).   See Vail v. Coffman Engineers, Inc., 778 P.2d 211 (Alaska 1989).

The right applies to employes brought to the place of work either from out-of-state or from another place within Alaska.

A timely request is one made within 45 calendar days of the termination of employment.

It is irrelevant whether the employee signed a contract to repay the employer.  The employer covered by the statute still must provide the return transportation, though the employer may also have a contractual right to recover the moneys spent to bring the employee and belongings to the place of work.  

If the employer breaks the law, the employee may either file a claim with the Alaska Department of Labor or file a lawsuit for breach of contract.    The employee may also file criminal charges against the employer.

Proposed change to the regulations.  The Alaska DOL has proposed to amend the current regulations to define a “prolonged, unexcused absence from duties” as an “unexcused absence from duties for more than three scheduled work days.”  DOL presumably means “for more than three consecutive scheduled work days,” but that’s not absolutely clear.