Labor Department Seeks Input to Define Contractor

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development is holding a public hearing in August to discuss adopting a new definition of what constitutes an independent contractor. The department said it wants a single definition of who is a contractor that would be used for unemployment, workers’ compensation, workplace safety, and wage and hour disputes. State lawmakers spent two years working on creating a test to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor as part of the discussions surrounding House Bill 79 in 2017 and 2018. The bill signed into law in August 2018 close...