UGH.  This is a case where a little more active regulation enforcement would have been undeniably a good thing.  Given the fines that can be collected, sometimes the hiring of more people to carry out enforcement pays for itself.  And if the problem of labeling employees as "independent contractors" is so rampant, we simply need an incentive to increase reporting.  How about a phone number that employees can call to report violations, and their name is never released to the employer, and the employee gets 50% of all fines paid by that employer for those violations?  I don't think this is an unsolvable problem. It's ok to be "industry friendly" but Alaska goes too far with only token enforcement in a lot of cases, and the main problem is political will as the legislature listens to industry more than the voters because we don't hold them accountable at the ballot box.