SB68 • 2026

EMPLOYMENT OF MINORS

An Act relating to employment; relating to voluntary flexible work hour plans; relating to the employment of minors; and relating to hours worked by minors employed in the state.

Children Education Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: SENATE RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Last action: 2025-03-25
Official status: (S) STA
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Alaska SB 68: Changes to Rules on Working Hours and Minors

This bill updates rules for flexible work schedules, changes the age requiring special permission to hire minors from under 17 to under 16, adds a family exemption, and increases daily hour limits for young workers.

What This Bill Does

Increases the maximum hours allowed per day in voluntary flexible work plans from 10 to 12 if total weekly hours stay at or below 40.
Lowers the age threshold so that employers must get written permission to hire minors under 16 instead of under 17.
Allows family members to employ a minor without special authorization if they own and operate the business or boat directly supervising the work.
Increases the daily combined limit for school attendance and employment from nine hours to ten hours for minors under 16.
Removes previous sections of law that allowed exceptions for certain types of employment outside standard rules.

Who It Names or Affects

Employers in Alaska who hire workers on flexible schedules or employ minors.
Minors under the age of 16 seeking jobs or working part-time while attending school.
Family members, defined as parents, grandparents, adult siblings, aunts, or uncles, who own businesses and wish to directly supervise a minor relative at work.

Terms To Know

Voluntary flexible work hour plan: A written agreement between an employer and employee that allows different daily or weekly hours than the standard schedule, subject to department approval.
General written authorization: Official permission from the state commissioner required for employers who want to hire minors under 16 years old.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill text does not list a specific date when these changes will officially take effect.
The rules apply only within the State of Alaska and do not cover federal employment laws or other states.

Bill History

2025-03-25 Min
(S) Minutes (SSTA)
2025-03-25 Text
(S) Heard & Held
2025-03-25 Text
(S) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
2025-01-24 65
(S) REFERRED TO STATE AFFAIRS
2025-01-24 65
(S) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER
2025-01-24 65
(S) FN1: ZERO(LWF)
2025-01-24 65
(S) STA, L&C
2025-01-24 65
(S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS

Official Summary Text

EMPLOYMENT OF MINORS
An Act relating to employment; relating to voluntary flexible work hour plans; relating to the employment of minors; and relating to hours worked by minors employed in the state.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB0068A -1- SB 68
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]

34-GS1389\A

SENATE BILL NO. 68

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION

BY THE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR

Introduced: 1/24/25
Referred: State Affairs, Labor and Commerce

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act relating to employment; relating to voluntary flexible work hour plans; relating 1
to the employment of minors; and relating to hours worked by mi nors employed in the 2
state." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. AS 23.10.060(d)(14) is amended to read: 5
(14) work performed by an employee under a voluntary flexible work 6
hour plan that does not exceed 40 hours a week and 12 hours a day if 7
(A) the employee and the employer have signed a written 8
agreement establishing the daily and weekly hours worked by the employee 9
under the plan and the written agreement has been filed with the department; 10
and 11
(B) the department has issued a certificate approving the plan 12
[THAT STATES THE WORK IS FOR 40 HOURS A WEEK AND NOT 13
MORE THAN 10 HOURS A DAY]; for work exceeding [OVER 40 HOURS 14
34-GS1389\A
SB 68 -2- SB0068A
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]

A WEEK OR 10 HOURS A DAY UNDER] a flexible work hour plan not 1
included as part of a collective bargaining agreement, compensa tion at the rate 2
of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay shall be paid for the overtime; 3
* Sec. 2. AS 23.10.332(a) is amended to read: 4
(a) Except for employment exempted under AS 23.10.330 and (e) of this 5
section and other employment specificall y exempted by regulations adop ted by the 6
department, a minor under 16 [17] years of age may only [NOT] be employed by or 7
allowed to work for an employer who has received a general written authorization 8
to employ minors from [WITHOUT THE WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION OF] the 9
commissioner unless authorized under AS 23.10.360 [OR UNDER (c) O F T H I S 10
SECTION]. 11
* Sec. 3. AS 23.10.332 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12
(e) An employer is not require d to obtain written authorizatio n under (a) of 13
this section to employ a minor under the direct supervision of a family member of the 14
minor in a business owned and operated by the family member or on a boat owned and 15
operated by the famil y member. In this subsection, "family memb er" means a parent, 16
grandparent, adult sibling, aunt, or uncle. 17
* Sec. 4. AS 23.10.340(a) is amended to read: 18
(a) A minor under 16 years of age may not be employed for more t h a n a 19
combined total of 10 [NINE] hours school attendance and employment in one day. If 20
employed, the minor's work may be performed only between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. 21
Domestic work and baby sitting excepted, employment [EMPLOYMENT 22
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS] may not exceed 23 hours in one week when school is 23
in session or 40 hours in one week when school is not in sessio n [, DOMESTIC 24
WORK AND BABY-SITTING EXCEPTED]. 25
* Sec. 5. AS 23.10.332(c) and 23.10.332(d) are repealed. 26
* Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27
read: 28
REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION. The revisor of statutes is requested to change the catch 29
line for AS 23.10.332 from "Authorization for children under 17 to work" to "Authorization 30
to employ children under 16." 31