Alaska minimum wage will increase in 2021

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Wednesday, September 16th, 2020 4:49pm

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Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The Alaska minimum wage will increase from $10.19 to $10.34 effective Jan. 1, 2021. Voters passed a ballot initiative in 2014 to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation.

Alaska statute requires the Alaska minimum wage to be adjusted using the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers in the Anchorage metropolitan area for the preceding calendar year. The Anchorage CPI-U increased by 1.4 percent in 2019. As a result, the minimum wage will rise from $10.19 to $10.34 effective Jan. 1, 2021.

By law, Alaska’s minimum wage must remain at least $1 per hour over the federal minimum wage.

The Alaska minimum wage applies to all hours worked in a pay period, regardless of how the employee is paid — whether by time, piece, commission, or otherwise. All actual hours worked in a pay period multiplied by the Alaska minimum wage is the very least an employee can be compensated by an employer unless the employer can clearly show that a specific exemption exists.

Tips do not count toward the minimum wage.

Further, under Alaska law, public school bus driver wages must be no less than twice the current Alaska minimum wage. Also, certain exempt employees must be paid on a salary basis of not less than twice the current Alaska minimum wage based on a 40-hour workweek in order to maintain their exempt status.

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