Alaska minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Alaska is $14.00 an hour. It went up from $13.00 on July 1, 2026.

Minimum wage

$14.00

For a 40-hour week

$560.00

Source: AS 23.10.065(a) as amended by Ballot Measure 1 (2024): $14.00 effective July 1, 2026 Read the rule

Alaska does not let employers count your tips toward the minimum wage. You are owed the full $14.00 an hour before tips, and every tip you receive is on top of that.

Tips can count toward the wage

No

Tipped cash wage

$14.00

Source: AS 23.10.065(a) (an employer may not apply tips or gratuities as a credit toward payment of the minimum hourly wage; the FLSA tip credit does not apply to the state minimum wage) Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.
• Hours past 8 in a single workday are overtime too, at 1.5 times your regular rate, even if the week is under 40.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$21.00

Source: AS 23.10.060; 8 AAC 15.100 (1.5x the regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday or over 40 in a workweek; employers with fewer than 4 employees are exempt from the overtime requirement) Read the rule

Alaska does not require meal or rest breaks for adult workers, and neither does federal law. If your employer does give short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, federal law says those minutes are paid.

Source: 29 CFR 785.18 and 785.19 (federal law does not require breaks; short breaks that are given must be paid) Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what Alaska allows:

Required uniforms

Only if pay stays above minimum

Register or cash shortages

Not allowed

Broken dishes or equipment

Only if pay stays above minimum

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Only if pay stays above minimum

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: AS 23.10.043; 8 AAC 15.160 (cash or register shortages and lost, missing or stolen property may be deducted only if the employee has admitted willingly and in writing to personally taking the specific amount; blanket authorizations signed at hire are not valid; deductions may not reduce pay below minimum wage or cut into overtime) Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

Not applicable

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

Yes

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in Alaska.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(B); 29 CFR 531.54 Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: 8 AAC 15.907 (a tip must be freely given by the customer; service charges, gratuities and other fees set by the business are not tips and are controlled by the employer) Read the rule

Alaska requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

56 hours

Source: AS 23.10.066 - 23.10.069 (Ballot Measure 1, effective July 1, 2025): 1 hour per 30 hours worked; employers with fewer than 15 FTEs may cap at 40 hours per year, 15 or more at 56 Read the rule

Some parts of Alaska law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for Alaska can be off if any of these apply to you:

• If your employer has 3 or fewer employees, Alaska's overtime law does not apply to you. This check applied overtime after 8 hours in a day and 40 in a week, so overtime it found may not be owed.
• If you signed up for a state-approved flexible work plan with 10-hour days, overtime starts after 10 hours in a day, not 8, so this check may overstate your daily overtime.
• If you admitted in writing to personally taking a specific cash shortage, your employer may deduct that amount. This check flags every cash shortage deduction; a blanket form signed at hire does not count.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Labor Standards and Safety Division, Wage and Hour

Phone

907-269-4900

Wage and Hour collects unpaid or underpaid wages on behalf of workers. Claim form: https://labor.alaska.gov/lss/forms/wageclaim.pdf ; email statewide.wagehour@alaska.gov. Offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.