CSHB 115(JUD): "An Act relating to settlement and payment of claims for overtime compensation claims and to liquidated damages and attorney fees for overtime compensation claims."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 115(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to settlement and payment of claims for overtime compensation 02 claims and to liquidated damages and attorney fees for overtime compensation 03 claims." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 23.10.110(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) An employer who violates a provision of AS 23.10.060 or 23.10.065 is 07 liable to an employee affected in the amount of unpaid minimum wages, or unpaid 08 overtime compensation, as the case may be, and, except as provided in (d) of this 09 section, in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 23.10.110(c) is amended to read: 11 (c) The court in an action brought under this section shall, in addition to a 12 judgment awarded to the plaintiff, allow costs of the action and, except as provided 13 in (e) - (h) of this section, reasonable attorney fees to be paid by the defendant. The 14 attorney fees in the case of actions brought under this section by the commissioner
01 shall be remitted by the commissioner to the Department of Revenue. The 02 commissioner may not be required to pay the filing fee or other costs. The 03 commissioner in case of suit has power to join various claimants against the same 04 employer in one cause of action. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 23.10.110 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 06 (d) In an action under (a) of this section to recover unpaid overtime 07 compensation or liquidated damages for unpaid overtime, if the defendant shows by 08 clear and convincing evidence that the act or omission giving rise to the action was 09 made in good faith and that the employer had reasonable grounds for believing that the 10 act or omission was not in violation of AS 23.10.060, the court may decline to award 11 liquidated damages or may award an amount of liquidated damages less than the 12 amount set out in (a) of this section. 13 (e) If the plaintiff prevails in an action for unpaid overtime compensation 14 under (a) of this section, the court shall award reasonable attorney fees to the plaintiff 15 unless the defendant shows by clear and convincing evidence that the act or omission 16 giving rise to the action was made in good faith and that the defendant had reasonable 17 grounds for believing that the act or omission was not in violation of AS 23.10.060, 18 in which case 19 (1) the court may award attorney fees to the plaintiff in accordance 20 with court rules; or 21 (2) if the defendant would be entitled to attorney fees if the action were 22 subject to the standards under court rule offers of judgment, the court may not award 23 attorney fees to either the plaintiff or the defendant. 24 (f) If the defendant prevails in an action for unpaid overtime compensation 25 under (a) of this section and had previously made an offer of judgment to the plaintiff, 26 the court shall award attorney fees to the defendant unless the plaintiff proves to the 27 satisfaction of the court that the action was both brought and prosecuted in good faith 28 and that the plaintiff had reasonable grounds for believing that the act or omission was 29 in violation of AS 23.10.060. If the court awards attorney fees to the defendant, the 30 award shall be made in accordance with court rule. 31 (g) Failure to inquire into Alaska law is not consistent with a claim of good
01 faith under this subsection. 02 (h) Subsections (d) - (g) of this section do not apply to an action brought 03 under this section by the commissioner. 04 (i) The commissioner may supervise the payment of the unpaid overtime 05 compensation owing to an employee under AS 23.10.060. Payment in full in 06 accordance with an agreement by an employee to settle a claim for unpaid overtime 07 compensation or liquidated damages for unpaid overtime compensation constitutes a 08 waiver of any right the employee may have under (a) of this section to unpaid 09 overtime compensation or liquidated damages for unpaid overtime compensation. 10 (j) In a settlement for unpaid overtime compensation that is not supervised by 11 the department or the court, an employee is entitled to liquidated damages under (a) 12 of this section unless the employee and the employer enter into a written settlement 13 agreement in which the employee expressly waives the right to receive liquidated 14 damages. A private written settlement agreement under this subsection is not valid 15 unless submitted to the department for review. The department shall review the 16 agreement and approve it if it is fair to the parties. The department shall approve or 17 deny an agreement within 30 days of receipt. 18 * Sec. 4. APPLICATION OF ACT. (a) AS 23.10.110(i), added by sec. 3 of this Act, 19 applies to agreements entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. 20 (b) AS 23.10.110(j), added by sec. 3 of this Act, applies to written agreements entered 21 into on or after the effective date of this Act. 22 (c) Except as provided in (a) and (b) of this section, this Act applies to wages earned 23 for hours worked on or after the effective date of this Act.