00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 68                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the division of labor standards and safety; relating to the division of                             
02 workers' compensation; establishing the division of workers' safety and compensation;                                   
03 and providing for an effective date."                                                                                   
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
05    * Section 1. AS 18.20.410(b) is amended to read:                                                                 
06 (b)  Immediately after declaring a temporary nurse staffing emergency under                                             
07 (a) of this section, a health care facility shall file with the division of workers' safety                         
08 and compensation [LABOR STANDARDS AND SAFETY], Department of Labor                                                  
09 and Workforce Development, a report that includes a copy of the signed writing                                          
10       required under (a) of this section. A report under this subsection is a public document.                          
11    * Sec. 2. AS 18.20.450(a) is amended to read:                                                                      
12 (a)  A health care facility shall file with the division of workers' safety and                                     
13 compensation [LABOR STANDARDS AND SAFETY], Department of Labor and                                                  
14 Workforce Development, a semiannual report on a form provided by the department.                                        

01 The report for the six-month period ending June 30 must be filed before the following                                   
02 August 1, and the report for the six-month period ending December 31 must be filed                                      
03 before the following February 1. The report must include, for each nurse employed by                                    
04 the health care facility or under contract with the health care facility, the number of                                 
05 overtime hours worked and the number of hours the nurse was on call. A health care                                      
06 facility that does not employ a nurse who worked overtime hours or who was on call                                      
07 during the reporting period is not required to describe hours worked as overtime and                                    
08 on-call hours for individual nurses but may instead complete the report by stating on                                   
09       the form that there are no reportable hours.                                                                      
10    * Sec. 3.  AS 18.60.055 is amended to read:                                                                        
11 Sec. 18.60.055. Division of workers' safety and compensation [LABOR                                                 
12 STANDARDS AND SAFETY]. As established by AS 23.10.075, there is in the                                                
13 department a division of workers' safety and compensation [LABOR STANDARDS                                          
14 AND SAFETY]. Minimum qualifications shall be established for employees of the                                           
15 department acting as safety inspectors under AS 18.60.010 - 18.60.105. These                                            
16 qualifications must include, as a minimum requirement, at least five years general                                      
17 work experience in the field they are assigned to inspect. Training in safety principles,                               
18 codes, and standards may be substituted for work experience up to a maximum of                                          
19       three years.                                                                                                      
20    * Sec. 4. AS 18.60.058(a) is amended to read:                                                                      
21 (a)  In the event of an employment accident that is fatal to an employee or that                                        
22 results in an employee's in-patient hospitalization, an employee's loss of an eye, or an                                
23 employee's amputation, the employer shall report the accident. The report must be                                       
24 made by telephone or in person to the nearest office of the division of workers' safety                             
25 and compensation [LABOR STANDARDS AND SAFETY] or by telephone to the                                                
26 federal toll-free number provided by the division. The report must relate the name of                                   
27 the establishment, the location of the accident, the time of the accident, a contact                                    
28 person and the telephone number of the contact person, a brief description of the                                       
29 accident, the number of fatalities or injured employees, and the extent of any injuries.                                
30 The report must be made immediately but in no event later than eight hours after                                        
31 receipt by the employer of information that the accident has occurred. However, if the                                  

01 employer first receives information of a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, loss of an                               
02 eye, or amputation eight or more hours after the accident but not later than 30 days                                    
03 after the accident, the employer must make the report not later than eight hours after                                  
04 receiving the information. This subsection does not apply to an employer that first                                     
05 receives information of a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, loss of an eye, or                                      
06       amputation more than 30 days after the accident.                                                                  
07    * Sec. 5. AS 18.60.235(a) is amended to read:                                                                      
08 (a)  In addition to the deputy inspectors employed under AS 18.60.230 and the                                           
09 special inspectors commissioned under AS 18.60.240, the commissioner of labor and                                       
10 workforce development may appoint an employee of the Department of Labor and                                            
11 Workforce Development as an approved inspector if the employee has completed                                            
12 training by the chief inspector and has passed an examination that has been approved                                    
13 by the director of the division of workers' safety and compensation [LABOR                                          
14 STANDARDS AND SAFETY] to perform inspections under AS 18.60.180 -                                                       
15 18.60.395 of cast iron boilers and domestic hot water heaters. An employee does not                                     
16 have to pass the examination described in AS 18.60.290 in order to be appointed an                                      
17       approved inspector under this subsection.                                                                         
18     * Sec. 6.  AS 23.05.067(a) is amended to read:                                                                    
19 (a)  Each insurer providing workers' compensation insurance and each                                                    
20 employer who is self-insured or uninsured for purposes of AS 23.30 in this state shall                                  
21 pay an annual service fee to the department for the administrative expenses of the state                                
22 for workers' safety programs under AS 18.60 and the workers' compensation program                                       
23       under AS 23.30 as follows:                                                                                        
24                 (1)  for each employer,                                                                                 
25 (A)  except as provided in (b) of this section, the service fee                                                         
26 shall be paid each year to the department at the time that the annual report is                                         
27            required to be filed under AS 23.30.155(m) or (n); and                                                       
28 (B)  the service fee is 2.9 percent of all payments reported to the                                                     
29 division of workers' safety and compensation in the department under                                                
30            AS 23.30.155(m) or (n), except second injury fund payments; and                                              
31 (2)  for each insurer, the director of the division of insurance shall,                                                 

01 under (e) of this section, deposit from funds received from the insurer under                                           
02 AS 21.09.210 a service fee of 2.5 percent of the direct premium income for workers'                                     
03 compensation insurance received by the insurer during the year ending on the                                            
04       preceding December 31, subject to all the deductions specified in AS 21.09.210(b).                                
05    * Sec. 7. AS 23.10.075 is repealed and reenacted to read:                                                          
06 Sec. 23.10.075. Division of workers' safety and compensation. The division                                            
07 of workers' safety and compensation is established in the department. The                                               
08 commissioner shall appoint the director of the division. The director shall administer                                  
09       AS 18.60.010 - 18.60.105, AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150, and AS 23.30.001 - 23.30.400.                                 
10    * Sec. 8. AS 23.10.080 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:                                               
11 Sec. 23.10.080. Powers and duties of division. The director, or an authorized                                         
12       representative of the director, shall                                                                           
13 (1)  investigate and ascertain the wages and related conditions and                                                     
14       standards of employment of any employee in the state;                                                             
15 (2)  enter the place of business or employment of an employer at                                                        
16 reasonable times for the purpose of inspecting payroll records that relate to the                                       
17       question of wages paid or hours worked;                                                                           
18 (3)  require and subpoena from an employer a statement in writing,                                                      
19 when the director or the representative considers it necessary, of hours worked by and                                  
20 the wages paid to a person in the employ of the employer, and the commissioner may                                      
21       require the employer to make the statement under oath;                                                            
22 (4)  question an employee in a place of employment during work hours                                                    
23       with respect to the wages paid and the hours worked by the employees;                                             
24 (5)  compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books,                                                    
25 papers, and documents by subpoena when necessary for the purpose of a hearing or                                        
26       investigation provided for in AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150;                                                       
27 (6)  facilitate the quick, efficient, fair, and predictable delivery of                                             
28 indemnity and medical benefits to injured workers at a reasonable cost to                                           
29       employers who are required to provide workers' compensation.                                                  
30    * Sec. 9. AS 23.30.025 is amended to read:                                                                         
31 (a)  An insurer may not enter into or issue a policy of insurance under this                                            

01 chapter until its policy form has been submitted to and approved by the director of the                                 
02 division of insurance. The director of the division of insurance may not approve the                                    
03 policy form of an insurance company until the company files with it the certificate of                                  
04 the director of the division of insurance showing that the company is authorized to                                     
05 transact the business of workers' compensation insurance in the state. The filing of a                                  
06 policy form by an insurance company with the division of workers' safety and                                        
07 compensation for approval constitutes, on the part of the company, a conclusive and                                     
08 unqualified acceptance of the provisions of this chapter, and an agreement by it to be                                  
09       bound by them.                                                                                                    
10    * Sec. 10.  AS 23.30.280(e) is amended to read:                                                                    
11 (e)  Except as provided in (f) of this section, a person is not liable for civil                                        
12 damages for filing a report concerning a suspected, anticipated, or completed                                           
13 fraudulent act or a false or misleading statement or representation with, or for                                        
14 furnishing other information, whether written or oral, concerning a suspected,                                          
15 anticipated, or completed fraudulent act or false or misleading statements or                                           
16       representation to                                                                                                 
17                 (1)  law enforcement officials or their agents and employees;                                           
18 (2)  the division of workers' safety and compensation, the division of                                              
19 insurance in the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development,                                           
20       or an agency in another state that regulates insurance or workers' compensation;                                  
21 (3)  an insurer or adjuster or its agents, employees, or designees, or the                                              
22       risk manager of a self-insured employer under this chapter.                                                       
23    * Sec. 11. AS 23.30.395(15) is amended to read:                                                                    
24 (15)  "director" means the director of the division of workers' safety                                              
25       and compensation in the department;                                                                           
26    * Sec. 12. AS 23.30.395(17) is amended to read:                                                                  
27 (17)  "division" means the division of workers’ safety and                                                          
28       compensation in the department;                                                                                   
29    * Sec. 13. AS 39.25.120(c)(14) is amended to read:                                                                 
30 (14)  the rehabilitation administrator of the division of workers' safety                                           
31       and compensation;                                                                                             

01    * Sec. 14. AS 39.25.158(b) is amended to read:                                                                     
02 (b)  After an employee requests to return to work, the reemployment benefits                                            
03 administrator of the division of workers' safety and compensation or the director of                                
04 vocational rehabilitation in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development                                          
05 shall review the request and certify that the employee is able to return to work under                                  
06 (c), (d), (e), or (f) of this section, or defer certification until the employee completes                              
07       retraining under (f) of this section.                                                                             
08    * Sec. 15. AS 23.30.002 is repealed.                                                                               
09    * Sec. 16. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to                         
10 read:                                                                                                                   
11 TRANSITION. Litigation, hearings, investigations, and other proceedings connected                                       
12 to division functions transferred by this Act continue in effect and may be completed                                   
13 notwithstanding the transfer. Certificates, orders, and regulations issued or adopted under                             
14 authority of a law amended by this Act remain in effect as issued, or until revoked, vacated, or                        
15 otherwise modified under the provisions of this Act. Contracts, rights, liabilities, and                                
16 obligations created by or under a law amended or repealed by this Act, and in effect of the                             
17 effective date of this Act, remain in effect notwithstanding this Act's taking effect. Records,                         
18 equipment, appropriations, and other property of agencies of the state whose functions are                              
19 transferred under this Act shall be transferred to implement the provisions of this Act.                                
20    * Sec. 17.  This Act takes effect July 1, 2019.