Bill Text: IA HF196 | 2011-2012 | 84th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to employee leave by providing for time off and vacation leave, and including effective date and applicability provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-31 - END OF 2011 ACTIONS [HF196 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2011-HF196-Introduced.html

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House File 196 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 196
BY WILLEMS , ISENHART , GASKILL ,
HUNTER , T. TAYLOR , MURPHY ,
KEARNS , and KAJTAZOVIC
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to employee leave by providing for time
off and vacation leave, and including effective date and
applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 91A.2, Code 2011, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 6A. “Paid time off” means a benefit
provided by an employer that allows an employee to take time
off from work with pay without regard to the reason the
employee chooses to take the time off.
Sec. 2. Section 91A.2, subsection 7, paragraph b, Code 2011,
is amended to read as follows:
b. Vacation, holiday, paid time off, sick leave, and
severance payments which are due an employee under an agreement
with the employer or under a policy or practice of the
employer.
Sec. 3. Section 91A.4, Code 2011, is amended by striking the
section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
91A.4 Employment suspension or termination —— how wages are
paid.
1. An employee’s employer shall pay all wages earned by the
employee up to the time of the suspension or termination, less
any lawful deductions specified in section 91A.5, no later than
the next regular payday after suspension or termination, except
as follows:
a. Earned wages that are the difference between a credit
paid against wages determined on a commission basis and the
wages actually earned on a commission basis shall be paid
by the employer not more than thirty days after the date of
suspension or termination.
b. If while employed, an employee earned paid time off
but did not earn vacation, an employer may reduce pay for
accumulated paid time off by up to one-third.
c. If while employed, an employee earned both vacation pay
and paid time off, no payment for accrued paid time off is
required.
2. An employer shall not adopt a policy or practice of
denying payment for vacation or for paid time off upon the
suspension or termination of an employee’s employment unless
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H.F. 196
the employee’s employment was terminated by the employer for
misconduct as defined in 871 IAC 24.32(1)“a”, as set forth in
section 96.5, subsection 2.
3. Except as provided in subsection 1, upon suspension or
termination of an employee’s employment, the amount of pay owed
for accrued paid time off or accrued vacation shall be the
amount of pay the employee would have received if the employee
had not been suspended or terminated and had begun taking the
total amount of accrued paid time off or accrued vacation on
the date the suspension or termination occurred.
Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This Act, being deemed of
immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
Sec. 5. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies only to the
suspension or termination of an employee’s employment that
takes place on or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
This bill provides employee leave by providing for time off
and vacation leave.
The bill relates to payments for accrued vacation time and
for accrued paid time off for all employees who are terminated
or suspended.
Current law requires an employer to pay accrued vacation pay
to a terminated or suspended employee only if the employer has
a policy, procedure, or contract that requires the employer to
do so.
The bill defines “paid time off” as a benefit allowing an
employee to take time off from work with pay without regard to
the reason the employee chooses to take the time off. “Paid
time off” is also added to the definition of “wages”.
The bill provides that if an employee is suspended or
terminated upon request the employer must pay all wages, now
including paid time off, earned by the next regular payday.
The bill provides an exception for when an employee who earned
paid time off while employed but not vacation, the employer
may reduce the pay for the accrued paid time off by one-third.
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H.F. 196
Finally, there is an exception for when an employee earned both
vacation and paid time off while employed, the employer is not
required to make payment for the paid time off.
An employer shall not adopt a policy or practice to deny
payment for accrued vacation or accrued paid time off upon the
suspension or termination of an employee unless the employee’s
employment ended due to misconduct. Misconduct is not defined
in statute but is defined in the department of workforce
development’s administrative rules.
The bill provides a formula to calculate the payment for an
employee’s accrued paid time off or vacation if the employee is
suspended or terminated. Except as otherwise provided by the
formula, the amount of pay owed to an employee is the amount of
pay equal to the accrued vacation or paid time off as if the
employee began taking the vacation or paid time off the day the
suspension or termination took place. This formula substitutes
the pro rata policy for how accrued vacation is currently paid
out if an employee’s policy or practice required it.
The bill takes effect upon enactment. The bill is made
applicable only to the suspension or termination of an
employee’s employment that occurs on or after that date.
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