Employee Discipline: Alaska

Federal law and guidance on this subject should be reviewed together with this section.

Author: Gloria Ju

Summary

• Alaska prohibits polygraph testing of employees and applicants, except for those in one specific field. See Investigating Employee Behavior; Polygraph Tests.
• Employees have an opportunity to explain a positive drug test result before the employer can take an adverse employment action. See Investigating Employee Behavior; Drug Testing.
• Alaska state law permits the use of medical and recreational marijuana. See Marijuana.
• Employers may be held liable for invasion of privacy by conducting a search in an unreasonable manner or for an unlawful reason. See Investigating Employee Behavior; Searches.
• Alaska is an employment at-will state that recognizes certain exceptions to the at-will doctrine. See Employment At-Will.
• Both Alaska and federal law prohibit employers from disciplining employees for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons, but state law provides broader coverage. See Disciplining Protected Employees.
• Employers must avoid making mistakes in disciplinary situations that can lead to legal liability, such as defamation, false imprisonment and illegal monitoring of personal conversations. See Discipline Considerations; Defamation; False Imprisonment; Monitoring or Surveillance.
• When disciplining employees for attendance issues, employers must be aware of state jury duty, voting leave and military leave laws. Public employers are also required to provide family leave. See Specific Discipline Situations; Attendance.
• Deductions cannot be made from an employee's wages for cash shortages or missing property unless the employee first admits to the theft. See Workplace Theft.
• The Alaska Uniform Trade Secrets Act prohibits the actual or threatened misappropriation of trade secrets. See Trade Secrets.
• Employers in Alaska may use noncompete agreements, but must be careful to abide by common law and case law. See Restrictive Covenants.
• Employers may not discipline employees for carrying firearms in their car on company property. See Specific Discipline Situations; Guns in the Workplace.
• E-cigarettes are banned in certain Alaskan workplaces. See E-Cigarettes.
• Criminal justice information may be provided to employers under Alaska law. See Arrest and Conviction Records.
• Alaska employers must maintain disciplinary records, if any are kept, in accordance with certain legal requirements. See Recordkeeping Requirements.
• Palmer has requirements pertaining to employee discipline. See Local Requirements.