Alaska Overtime Calculator: the complete guide
Alaska is one of only four states on this site with a general daily-overtime rule, and its version has a distinctive twist: instead of adding daily and weekly overtime together, Alaska pays whichever of the two produces more overtime hours for that week, and never both for the same hour. Under Alaska Stat. Sec. 23.10.060, a non-exempt employee is owed 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked over 8 in a single day or over 40 in the workweek, and the calculation compares the two totals rather than stacking them.
This rule applies to employers with 4 or more employees; smaller employers are exempt from Alaska's daily-overtime requirement and generally fall back to the federal 40-hour rule instead. This page walks through the "greater of the two" comparison with real numbers, plus Alaska's own minimum wage and filing process.
The greater-of comparison
Each week, this calculator adds up two separate overtime totals: the total hours over 8 across each individual day (daily overtime), and the total hours over 40 for the whole week (weekly overtime). Alaska law does not add these two figures together; it pays whichever total is larger, because paying both would compensate the same hours twice.
An employee earning $20.00/hr works exactly 10 hours a day, four days in a row, then has three days off (40 hours total for the week). Daily overtime: each 10-hour day produces 2 hours over the 8-hour daily threshold, so 4 days x 2 hours = 8 hours of daily overtime. Weekly overtime: the week totals exactly 40 hours, so there are 0 hours over the 40-hour weekly threshold. The greater of 8 (daily) and 0 (weekly) is 8, so the employee is owed 32 straight-time hours (32 x $20.00 = $640.00) plus 8 overtime hours at 1.5x (8 x $30.00 = $240.00). Total for the week: $640.00 + $240.00 = $880.00.
Why this differs from California's approach
California, by contrast, can produce overtime from both daily and weekly triggers in the same week, because its anti-pyramiding rule works by excluding already-premium-paid hours from the 40-hour count rather than by comparing two separate totals and picking the larger. Alaska's rule is simpler to apply but can, in some schedules, produce a smaller number than California's method would for an identical schedule; the two states are not interchangeable, and using California's formula in Alaska will generally overstate what's legally owed.
Alaska's minimum wage and the 4-employee threshold
Alaska's minimum wage is $14.00/hr, effective July 1, 2026 under Ballot Measure 1 (2024), up from $13.00/hr; it is scheduled to rise again to $15.00/hr on July 1, 2027, and will be indexed to inflation after that. Alaska allows no tip credit, so tipped employees receive the full $14.00/hr in cash wages on top of any tips, unlike states such as Texas or Georgia that let employers count a portion of tips toward the minimum wage.
The daily-overtime rule described above applies to employers with 4 or more employees. Employers with fewer than 4 employees are not required to pay Alaska's daily overtime, though the federal 40-hour weekly rule still applies to them if they are otherwise covered by the FLSA. This employer-size carve-out is unusual among the daily-overtime states and is worth confirming if you work for a very small employer.
Exemptions and the regular rate
Alaska generally follows the federal FLSA exemption categories (executive, administrative, professional, outside sales) for deciding who is exempt from overtime, layered on top of its own daily-overtime trigger for everyone else. As under federal law, a nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before either the daily or weekly 1.5x multiplier is applied; use the Advanced Options panel on this page to run that adjustment.
An employee earning a $20.00/hr base rate works the same four 10-hour days above and also earns a $100.00 nondiscretionary bonus that week. The regular rate becomes (($20.00 x 40) + $100.00) / 40 = $22.50/hr. The 8 overtime hours are then paid at 1.5 x $22.50 = $33.75/hr instead of $30.00/hr, adding $30.00 to the week's total pay purely from correctly folding in the bonus.
Recordkeeping and your rights
Alaska's greater-of daily-vs-weekly comparison depends on precise daily hours, not just a weekly total, so keep your own log of exact start and stop times for each day, along with your pay stubs and any written schedule. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Labor Standards and Safety Division investigates unpaid overtime claims separately from the federal Wage and Hour Division, and a day-by-day record is usually the deciding evidence when a daily-versus-weekly comparison is disputed.
If you work for an employer close to the 4-employee coverage threshold for Alaska's daily-overtime rule, it's worth confirming your employer's actual headcount rather than assuming coverage either way, since the daily rule genuinely does not apply below that threshold even though the federal 40-hour rule still does.
Common mistakes
Adding daily and weekly overtime together instead of taking the greater. Paying 8 hours of daily overtime plus a separately calculated weekly-overtime figure in the four-10-hour-day example would overstate the week; Alaska law caps the overtime at the larger of the two totals (8 hours here), not their sum.
Applying Alaska's rule to an employer with fewer than 4 employees. A 3-person employer that voluntarily pays daily overtime under Alaska's rule isn't required to (though nothing stops them); conversely, assuming a small employer is exempt from all overtime is wrong; the federal 40-hour rule still applies through the FLSA.
Ignoring a nondiscretionary bonus in the regular rate. Paying overtime at $30.00/hr instead of the bonus-adjusted $33.75/hr in the example above shortchanges the employee $3.75 for every overtime hour worked that week.
Assuming Alaska has a double-time tier. Unlike California, Alaska caps overtime at 1.5x with no 2x tier regardless of how long a single shift runs; a 16-hour shift in Alaska is still paid at 1.5x for hours over 8, not 2x for the longest hours.
Alaska overtime at a glance
| Trigger | Rate |
|---|---|
| Hours over 8 in a single day | 1.5x (compared against weekly total) |
| Hours over 40 in the workweek | 1.5x (compared against daily total) |
| Both triggers hit in the same week | Pay the greater total only, never both |
| Employers with fewer than 4 employees | Daily rule does not apply; federal 40hr rule still does |
How to file a claim
If your Alaska paycheck doesn't reflect the greater-of comparison above, raise it first with your employer or payroll department in writing, since misapplying a stacked (rather than greater-of) calculation is a common and usually correctable error. If that doesn't resolve it, you can file a wage-and-hour complaint with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Labor Standards and Safety Division, which investigates unpaid overtime claims at no cost. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Labor Standards and Safety Division.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Alaska pay both daily and weekly overtime in the same week?
- No. Alaska compares the total hours of daily overtime (hours over 8 per day, summed across the week) against the total hours of weekly overtime (hours over 40 for the week) and pays only the larger of the two figures. Paying both totals added together would compensate some hours twice, which Alaska law does not require or permit.
- Does Alaska's daily overtime rule apply to every employer?
- No, only to employers with 4 or more employees. Smaller employers are not required to pay Alaska's daily-overtime premium, though the federal FLSA's 40-hour weekly rule still applies to them if they are otherwise a covered employer under federal law.
- What is Alaska's minimum wage in 2026?
- Alaska's minimum wage is $14.00/hr, effective July 1, 2026, following the state's mid-year adjustment schedule under Ballot Measure 1 (2024) rather than the January 1 date most states use. It is scheduled to rise to $15.00/hr on July 1, 2027, and will move with inflation after that.
- Does Alaska allow a tip credit?
- No. Alaska requires tipped employees to be paid the full state minimum wage in cash, with no tip credit taken by the employer, unlike states such as Texas, Georgia, and Pennsylvania that allow a reduced cash wage supplemented by tips.
- Is Alaska's overtime rule the same as California's?
- No, even though both states have daily-overtime rules. California adds daily and weekly overtime together using an anti-pyramiding method that excludes already-premium-paid hours from the 40-hour count, while Alaska simply compares two separate totals and pays whichever is larger. Applying California's method to an Alaska schedule will generally produce a different, usually higher, number than Alaska law actually requires.
- Does a long single shift ever trigger double time in Alaska?
- No. Alaska caps overtime at 1.5x regardless of shift length; there is no double-time (2x) tier under Alaska law, unlike California's rule for hours over 12 in a single day. A 16-hour shift in Alaska is paid at 1.5x for the hours over 8, not 2x for any portion of it.
- How does a bonus affect Alaska overtime pay?
- A nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before either the daily or weekly 1.5x multiplier applies, the same as under federal law. In the $100.00 bonus example above, the regular rate rises from $20.00/hr to $22.50/hr, raising the overtime rate from $30.00/hr to $33.75/hr for that week.
- What should I do if I'm not being paid Alaska overtime correctly?
- Compare your own daily and weekly hour totals against your pay stub, remembering that only the larger of the two overtime totals is owed, then raise any shortfall with your employer first. If it isn't resolved, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Labor Standards and Safety Division investigates wage complaints at no charge and can order back pay.