Alaska § 23.10.067 - Utilization of paid sick leave benefit.

§ 23.10.067. Utilization of paid sick leave benefit.

The paid sick leave benefit required under AS 23.10.066 may be utilized as follows:        (1) employees shall be permitted to use paid sick leave for:             (A) an employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; the employee's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; or the employee's need for preventative medical care;

 (B) care or assistance to the employee's family member relating to the needs described in (A) of this paragraph; “family member” means an immediate family member as defined pursuant to AS 39.52.960 (11); a domestic partner; a foster child, legal ward, or person to whom the employee stands in loco parentis; a foster parent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child; or any other individual related by blood or whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship; or

 (C) absences necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, provided the leave is to allow the employee to obtain for the employee or a family member: medical or psychological attention; services from a victim's aid organization; relocation or steps to secure an existing home; or legal services, including participation in any investigation or civil or criminal proceeding;

 (2) when the need for paid sick leave is foreseeable, the employee shall make a good faith effort to provide notice to the employer in advance of the use of paid sick leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule use of paid sick leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the employer's operations;

 (3) for paid sick leave of more than three consecutive workdays, an employer may require reasonable documentation that the paid sick leave has been used for a purpose covered by (1) of this section; documentation signed by a health care professional indicating that paid sick leave is or was necessary shall be considered reasonable documentation for (1)(A) or (B) of this section purposes, but an employer may not require that the documentation explain the nature or details of the illness or underlying health needs;             (A) in cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, under (1)(C) of this section, one of the following types of documentation selected by the employee shall be considered reasonable documentation: a police report; a written statement from a witness advocate affirming services from a victim's aid organization; a court document indicating relevant legal action; or a written, non-notarized statement from the employee affirming that paid sick leave was taken for a qualifying purpose of (1)(C) of this section;

 (B) unless otherwise required by law, an employer may not require disclosure of the details of an employee's or an employee's family member's health or safety information as a condition of providing paid sick leave under AS 23.10.066 and must treat any health or safety information regarding an employee or employee's family member as confidential medical records;

 (4) paid sick leave under AS 23.10.066 may be used in the smaller of hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer's payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time;

 (5) an employer may not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, the right to paid sick leave under AS 23.10.066 ; an employer shall not:             (A) engage in retaliation or discrimination, or take any other adverse action, against an employee who utilizes, or attempts to utilize, their paid sick leave;

 (B) require, as a condition of an employee's taking paid sick leave under this section and AS 23.10.066 , that the employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is using paid sick leave; or

 (C) use an absence control policy that counts paid sick leave taken under AS 23.10.066 and this section as an absence that may lead to or result in retaliation or any other adverse action.