Alaska’s minimum wage will remain unchanged at $10.34 in 2022, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
In 2014, voters passed a ballot initiative to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation. Alaska Statute 23.10.065(a) requires the Alaska minimum wage to be adjusted using the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers in the Anchorage metropolitan area (Anchorage CPI-U) for the preceding calendar year.
The Urban Alaska CPI-U, formerly titled the Anchorage CPI-U, fell 1.1% in 2020. Because the statutory language states that the minimum wage will be “adjusted annually for inflation” and there was no inflation in 2020, the minimum wage will remain at $10.34 in the calendar year 2022. By law, Alaska’s minimum wage must remain at least $1 per hour over the federal minimum wage.
The Alaska minimum wage applies to all hours worked in a pay period, regardless of how the employee is paid — whether by time, commission or otherwise. All actual hours worked in a pay period multiplied by the Alaska minimum wage is the very least an employee can be compensated by an employer unless the employer can clearly show that a specific exemption exists.