Pay Stub Requirements in Alaska
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | General private-sector statement rule under Alaska Wage and Hour Act: every employer must give each employee the statement required by 8 AAC 15.160(h) |
|---|---|
| Must provide a statement and when | Written or electronic earnings-and-deductions statement for each employee every pay period; no separate payday or post-payment deadline stated (8 AAC 15.160(h)) |
| Pay period, employer, and employee identification | Must show beginning and ending dates of pay period. No payment date, employer name/address/phone, employee name/ID, or SSN field stated on the employee-facing statement (8 AAC 15.160(h)(4)) |
| Gross earnings, hours, rates, and pay basis | Must show rate of pay, gross wages, and straight-time and overtime hours actually worked; no express separate overtime rate, salary, commission, or piece-unit field stated (8 AAC 15.160(h)(1), (2), (12)) |
| Deductions, net pay, allowances, and other required items | Must show net wages; federal income tax, FICA, and Alaska Employment Security Act contributions; board/lodging; advances; other authorized deductions; sick leave used in accrual year and sick-leave balance (8 AAC 15.160(h)) |
| Electronic delivery, consent, printing, and storage | Statement may be written or electronic; rule states no consent, opt-out, paper-copy, printing, saving, continuing-access, or portal-access condition (8 AAC 15.160(h)) |
| Employee copy access and employer retention | No current/former-employee historical inspection or copy process stated. Employer must keep underlying employee/pay/hours/payroll records at workplace for at least 3 years (AS 23.10.100(a)); no separate stub-copy retention period stated |
| Enforcement, damages, penalties, and deadlines | Violation of Wage and Hour Act or regulation/order issued under it: on conviction $100-$2,000 fine, 10-90 days' imprisonment, or both (AS 23.10.140). No pay-stub-specific private damages, per-day amount, cure, fees, or limitations period stated |
Requirements one by one
The statement is due every pay period
8 AAC 15.160(h) says an employer “shall give each employee a written or electronic statement of earnings and deductions for each pay period.” It must show the beginning and ending dates of the pay period, rate of pay, gross wages, net wages, and the straight-time and overtime hours actually worked.
The rule does not expressly require a payment date, party names or addresses, an employee identifier, a separate overtime rate, salary label, commission basis, or piece-rate units. The regulation's listed fields control even if a payroll platform normally displays more information.
Taxes, deductions, advances, and sick leave are itemized
The same subsection requires federal income tax and Federal Insurance Contribution Act deductions, Alaska Employment Security Act contributions, board or lodging deductions, advances, and other authorized deductions.
The September 2025 version also requires sick leave used in the accrual year established under 8 AAC 15.107 and the employee's sick-leave balance. Those are statement fields; whether leave was correctly earned or used is a separate substantive question.
Electronic statements are expressly allowed
The rule treats a written statement and an electronic statement as alternatives. It does not state that the employee must consent, receive a paper opt-out, be able to print or save the statement, or retain portal access after employment. Those conditions should not be added to Alaska's rule without another source.
Payroll records must be kept for at least three years
AS 23.10.100(a) requires the employer to keep employee identity, occupation, rate, pay-period payment, daily and weekly hours, and other required payroll information at the place of employment for at least three years.
That is an employer recordkeeping duty. Neither AS 23.10.100(a) nor 8 AAC 15.160(h) states a current or former employee's historical inspection or copy procedure, response deadline, copy fee, or a separate period for retaining the delivered statement itself.
A regulation violation has a criminal penalty
AS 23.10.140 expressly reaches a regulation or order issued under AS 23.10.050-23.10.150. On conviction, the employer faces a fine from $100 to $2,000, imprisonment from 10 to 90 days, or both.
The provision does not state pay-stub-specific employee damages, a per-day or per-pay-period recovery, attorney fees, a cure period, or a private limitations period. Separate unpaid-minimum-wage or overtime remedies should not be treated as automatic damages for a statement-only violation.
What trips people up
Alaska's required list is more than a deduction breakdown. It includes gross and net wages, actual straight-time and overtime hours, the pay-period dates, advances, and sick-leave information.
The electronic option is also stated directly in the regulation. It does not need to be inferred from a generic requirement to provide something “in writing,” but the rule supplies no additional electronic-access mechanics.
Common questions
Must the statement show the employee's sick-leave balance?
Yes. Subsection (h)(15) requires the balance, and subsection (h)(14) requires sick leave used in the applicable accrual year.
Does Alaska require the employer's name or address on the statement?
Not in 8 AAC 15.160(h)'s employee-facing field list. The employer's underlying payroll records have separate content requirements.
Can the employer provide only an electronic statement?
The rule permits an electronic statement and states no consent or paper-opt-out condition. It also states no printing, saving, or continuing-access requirement.
Can a former employee demand three years of old stubs?
The employer must preserve underlying payroll information for at least three years, but these provisions do not create a former-employee request procedure or deadline for furnishing old statement copies.
Statutes and sources
- 8 AAC 15.160(h). Every-pay-period statement format and required fields. Official Alaska DOLWD Pamphlet 100 (October 2025; accessed July 14, 2026).
- AS 23.10.100(a). Three-year retention of employee, pay, hours, and payroll records. Official Alaska DOLWD Pamphlet 100 (accessed July 14, 2026).
- AS 23.10.140. Criminal fine and imprisonment range for violating the Act or a regulation or order issued under it. Official Alaska DOLWD Pamphlet 100 (accessed July 14, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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