CSSB 278(STA): "An Act allowing certain teachers, public employees, and private sector employees to take leave without pay when the spouse or domestic partner of the teacher or public employee or the spouse of the employee not a teacher or public employee is on leave from deployment in a combat zone."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 278(STA) 01 "An Act allowing certain teachers, public employees, and private sector employees to 02 take leave without pay when the spouse or domestic partner of the teacher or public 03 employee or the spouse of the employee not a teacher or public employee is on leave 04 from deployment in a combat zone." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 14.20.345(b) is amended to read: 07 (b) A leave of absence under this section or AS 14.20.348 is not an 08 interruption of the continuous service necessary to attain or retain retirement or tenure 09 rights under AS 14.20.150, 14.20.155, or 14.20.160. However, the time spent on leave 10 of absence under this section may not be counted in determining when a teacher has 11 sufficient service to enable the teacher to acquire retirement or tenure rights. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 14.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 13 Sec. 14.20.348. Leave without pay when spouse or domestic partner is on 14 leave from military deployment in a combat zone. (a) Notwithstanding
01 AS 14.20.345(a), a person who is employed as a teacher at a school where any 02 combination of 20 or more full-time, part-time, and temporary employees are 03 employed may take leave without pay, not to exceed 10 regularly scheduled work days 04 in a calendar year, when the teacher's spouse or domestic partner is 05 (1) a member of a regular, reserve, or auxiliary component of the 06 armed forces of the United States or the organized militia under AS 26.05.010 who is 07 deployed during a period of military conflict in a geographic area that is designated a 08 combat zone by the President of the United States; and 09 (2) on leave from the military deployment described in (1) of this 10 subsection for any reason. 11 (b) A teacher is required to give notice of a request for leave under this section 12 at least 14 days in advance, or, if a related medical emergency exists and giving at 13 least 14 days of advance notice is not practicable, the teacher is required to give as 14 much notice as is practicable. 15 (c) An employer may require that a teacher who requests leave under this 16 section provide the employer with verification that, during that leave, the teacher's 17 spouse or domestic partner is, was, or will be on leave from military deployment in a 18 combat zone, as required under (a) of this section. 19 (d) A request for leave that meets the requirements of (a) of this section may 20 not be denied, and a teacher's employer may not, by act or omission, retaliate against 21 the teacher for requesting or taking the leave. 22 (e) A leave of absence under this section 23 (1) is not a break in service for retirement purposes; 24 (2) continues the teacher in pay status, notwithstanding 25 AS 14.20.345(d) and (f), for the purpose of ensuring that the teacher's eligibility for 26 employee benefits, including retirement benefits, is not affected by the leave; and 27 (3) except as provided in (1) and (2) of this subsection, does not entitle 28 the teacher to accrue retirement benefits that would not ordinarily accrue if the teacher 29 were on leave of absence without pay under AS 14.20.345(a). 30 (f) A change to a teacher's terms or conditions of employment is void if its 31 cause is an act of retaliation that violates (d) of this section.
01 (g) In this section, 02 (1) "domestic partner" means a person who is cohabiting with another 03 in a relationship that is like a marriage but that is not a legal marriage; 04 (2) "period of military conflict" means a period of war 05 (A) declared by the United States Congress; or 06 (B) in which a member of a reserve component of the armed 07 forces of the United States is ordered to active duty under 10 U.S.C. 12301 or 08 12302. 09 * Sec. 3. AS 23.10.105 is amended to read: 10 Sec. 23.10.105. Posting summary required. An employer subject to 11 AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 or 23.10.435 shall keep a summary or abstract of the 12 applicable [THESE] sections, approved by the commissioner, posted in a conspicuous 13 location at the place where a person subject to them is employed. An employer shall 14 be furnished copies of a summary by the state on request without charge. The 15 requirement under this section that a summary or abstract of AS 23.10.435 be 16 posted by the employer may be satisfied by electronic means. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 23.10 is amended by adding a new section to article 7 to read: 18 Sec. 23.10.435. Leave without pay when spouse is on leave from military 19 deployment in a combat zone. (a) This section applies to every person that, as an 20 employer, other than the federal or state government or the government of a political 21 subdivision of the state, employs, for 20 weeks or more during the calendar year, any 22 combination of 20 or more full-time, part-time, and temporary employees who average 23 20 or more hours a week of work for weeks worked in the calendar year and who are 24 compensated under an express or implied contract of hire that is oral or written. 25 (b) When an employee's spouse is a member of a regular, reserve, or auxiliary 26 component of the armed forces of the United States or the organized militia under 27 AS 26.05.010 who is deployed during a period of military conflict in a geographic 28 area that is designated a combat zone by the President of the United States and is on 29 leave from that military deployment for any reason, an employee of an employer 30 described in (a) of this section may take, and the employee's employer shall grant, 31 leave without pay. Leave authorized by this subsection may not exceed 10 regularly
01 scheduled work days in a calendar year, but the authorized leave may be increased 02 beyond 10 days by voluntary agreement between the employer and the employee, 03 (c) An employee is required to give notice of a request for leave under this 04 section at least 14 days in advance, or, if a related medical emergency exists and 05 giving 14 or more days of advance notice is not practicable, the employee is required 06 to give as much notice as is practicable. 07 (d) If the employee who requests leave is covered by medical insurance that is 08 provided through the employer, the employer shall allow the employee to continue the 09 coverage without interruption during the leave. The employee shall pay the expense of 10 continuing medical insurance coverage during leave under this section unless the 11 employer and the employee agree otherwise. 12 (e) An employer may require that an employee who requests leave under this 13 section provide the employer with verification that, during that leave, the employee's 14 spouse is, was, or will be on leave from military deployment in a combat zone, as 15 required under (a) of this section. 16 (f) A request for leave that meets the requirements of (b), (c), and (e) of this 17 section may not be denied. 18 (g) A leave of absence under this section 19 (1) is not a break in service for retirement purposes; 20 (2) continues the employee in pay status for the purpose of ensuring 21 that the employee's eligibility for employee benefits, including retirement benefits, is 22 not affected by the leave except as provided in (d) of this section; and 23 (3) except as provided in (1) and (2) of this subsection, does not entitle 24 the employee to accrue retirement benefits that would not ordinarily accrue when the 25 employee is on other authorized leave without pay. 26 (h) An employer may not 27 (1) hinder or delay the commissioner or an authorized representative of 28 the commissioner in the performance of a duty related to the enforcement of this 29 section; 30 (2) refuse to admit the commissioner or an authorized representative of 31 the commissioner to any place of employment as may be required for the enforcement
01 of this section; 02 (3) refuse to make a record accessible, or to furnish a sworn statement 03 of the record, or to give information required for the enforcement of this section, upon 04 demand, to the commissioner or an authorized representative of the commissioner; 05 (4) fail to post a summary or abstract of this section as required by 06 AS 23.10.105; or 07 (5) discharge or in any other manner discriminate or retaliate against 08 an employee because the employee requests the leave, takes the leave, files a 09 complaint, institutes or causes to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this 10 section, or testifies or is about to testify in a proceeding under or related to this 11 section. 12 (i) If an employer violates (h) of this section, the affected employee may bring 13 a civil action to recover wages lost as a result of the violation and other damages that 14 resulted from the violation, and may also seek an order requiring the reinstatement of 15 the employee. 16 (j) The commissioner shall adopt regulations to implement this section. 17 (k) In this section, "period of military conflict" means a period of war 18 (1) declared by the United States Congress; or 19 (2) in which a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of 20 the United States is ordered to active duty under 10 U.S.C. 12301 or 12302. 21 * Sec. 5. AS 39.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22 Sec. 39.20.285. Leave without pay when spouse or domestic partner is on 23 leave from military deployment in a combat zone. (a) This section applies to every 24 person who is a paid employee of 25 (1) the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state government, a 26 state public corporation or council established by law, or the University of Alaska, 27 whether the employee is a permanent, nonpermanent, or temporary employee, who is 28 employed for an average of 20 or more scheduled hours each week, but does not 29 include employees of the Alaska Railroad Corporation; 30 (2) a political subdivision of the state. 31 (b) An employee may take leave without pay, not to exceed 10 regularly
01 scheduled work days in a calendar year, when the employee's spouse or domestic 02 partner is 03 (1) a member of a regular, reserve, or auxiliary component of the 04 armed forces of the United States or the organized militia under AS 26.05.010 who is 05 deployed during a period of military conflict in a geographic area that is designated a 06 combat zone by the President of the United States; and 07 (2) on leave from the military deployment described in (1) of this 08 subsection for any reason. 09 (c) An employee is required to give notice of a request for leave under this 10 section at least 14 days in advance, or, if a related medical emergency exists and 11 giving 14 or more days of advance notice is not practicable, the employee is required 12 to give as much notice as is practicable. 13 (d) An employer may require that an employee who requests leave under this 14 section provide the employer with verification that, during that leave, the employee's 15 spouse or domestic partner is, was, or will be on leave from military deployment in a 16 combat zone, as required under (a) of this section. 17 (e) A request for leave that meets the requirements of (b) of this section may 18 not be denied, and an employee's employer may not, by act or omission, retaliate 19 against the employee for requesting or taking the leave. 20 (f) A leave of absence under this section 21 (1) is not a break in service for retirement purposes; 22 (2) continues the employee in pay status for the purpose of ensuring 23 that the employee's eligibility for employee benefits, including retirement benefits, is 24 not affected by the leave; and 25 (3) except as provided in (1) and (2) of this subsection, does not entitle 26 the employee to accrue retirement benefits that would not ordinarily accrue when the 27 employee is on other authorized leave without pay. 28 (g) A change to an employee's terms or conditions of employment is void if its 29 cause is an act of retaliation that violates (e) of this section. 30 (h) The director of personnel in the Department of Administration shall adopt 31 regulations to implement this section as it applies to employees described in (a)(1) of
01 this section. 02 (i) In this section, 03 (1) "domestic partner" means a person who is cohabiting with a 04 another in a relationship that is like a marriage but that is not a legal marriage; 05 (2) "period of military conflict" means a period of war 06 (A) declared by the United States Congress; or 07 (B) in which a member of a reserve component of the armed 08 forces of the United States is ordered to active duty under 10 U.S.C. 12301 or 09 12302. 10 * Sec. 6. AS 39.20.310 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 39.20.310. Exceptions. Except as provided in AS 39.20.275 and 12 39.20.285, AS 39.20.200 - 39.20.330 do not apply to 13 (1) members of the state legislature, the governor, the lieutenant 14 governor, and justices and judges of the supreme and superior courts and of the court 15 of appeals, but nothing in AS 39.20.200 - 39.20.330 may be construed to diminish the 16 salaries fixed by law for these officers by reason of absence from duty on account of 17 illness or otherwise; 18 (2) magistrates serving the state on less than a full-time basis; 19 (3) officers, members of the teaching staff, and employees of the 20 University of Alaska; 21 (4) persons employed in a professional capacity to make a temporary 22 and special inquiry, study, or examination as authorized by the governor, the 23 legislature, or a legislative committee; 24 (5) members of boards, commissions, and authorities who are not 25 otherwise employed by the state; 26 (6) temporary employees hired for periods of less than 12 consecutive 27 months; 28 (7) persons employed by the division of marine transportation as 29 masters and members of the crews operating the state ferry system who are covered by 30 collective bargaining agreements as provided in AS 23.40.040, except as expressly 31 provided by law;
01 (8) persons employed by the state who are covered by collective 02 bargaining agreements as provided in AS 23.40.210, except as expressly provided by 03 law.