Alaska § 39.35.430 - Occupational death benefit.

§ 39.35.430. Occupational death benefit.

 (a) [Repealed, § 16 ch 123 SLA 1976.]  (b) If (1) the death of an employee occurs before the employee's retirement and before the employee's normal retirement date, and (2) the proximate cause of death is a bodily injury sustained or a hazard undergone while in the performance and within the scope of the employee's duties, and (3) the injury or hazard is not the proximate result of wilful negligence of the employee, a monthly survivor's pension shall be paid to the surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse or if the spouse later dies, the monthly survivor's pension shall be paid in equal parts to the dependent children of the employee. On the date the normal retirement of the employee would have occurred if the employee had lived, monthly payments shall equal the monthly amount of the normal retirement benefit to which the employee, had the employee lived and continued employment until the employee's normal retirement date, would have been entitled with an average monthly compensation as existed at death and the credited service to which the employee would have been entitled.

 (c) The first payment of the surviving spouse's pension or of a dependent child's pension shall be made for the month following the month in which the employee dies and payment shall cease to be made beginning with the month in which there is no surviving spouse or no dependent child.

 (d) [Repealed, § 19 ch 123 SLA 1976.]  (e) [Repealed, § 19 ch 123 SLA 1976.]  (f) If the death of an employee occurs from occupational causes but no surviving spouse or dependent children exist at the time of the death or if the employee designates as beneficiary under AS 39.35.490 someone other than the surviving spouse or dependent children, the employee's designated beneficiary is entitled to receive those benefits available to a beneficiary under AS 39.35.420 (c) and an occupational death benefit may not be paid to the surviving spouse or dependent children.

 (g) The monthly survivor's pension in (b) of this section for survivors of employees who were not peace officers or firefighters is 40 percent of the employee's monthly compensation in the month in which the employee dies. The monthly survivor's pension in (b) of this section for survivors of employees who were peace officers or firefighters is the greater of        (1) 50 percent of the monthly compensation in the month in which the employee dies; or

 (2) 75 percent of the employee's retirement benefit calculated under the provisions of AS 39.35.370 (c) if the employee had survived to normal retirement age.

 (h) If an employee's death is caused by an act of assault, assassination, or terrorism directly related to the person's status as an employee, whether the act occurs on or off the employee's job site, the death shall be considered to have occurred in the performance of and within the scope of the employee's duties for purposes of (b)(2) of this section. If the expressed or apparent motive and intent of the perpetrator of the harm inflicted upon the employee was due to the performance of the employee's job duties or employment, the death shall be considered to be directly related to the employee's status as an employee. An employee's job duties are those performed within the course and scope of the person's employment with an employer.