Bill Text: IA HF407 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act requiring employers to provide employment leave to attend parent-teacher conferences and including applicability provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-12-31 - END OF 2013 ACTIONS [HF407 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-HF407-Introduced.html

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House File 407 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 407
BY KELLEY
A BILL FOR
An Act requiring employers to provide employment leave
to attend parent-teacher conferences and including
applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 84A.5, subsection 4, Code 2013, is
amended to read as follows:
4. The division of labor services is responsible for the
administration of the laws of this state under chapters 88 ,
88A , 88B , 89 , 89A , 89B , 90A , 91 , 91A , 91C , 91D , 91E , 91F, 92 ,
and 94A , and section 85.68 . The executive head of the division
is the labor commissioner, appointed pursuant to section 91.2 .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 91F.1 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. “Child” means a biological, adopted, or foster child,
a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in
loco parentis who is under eighteen years of age or is eighteen
years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a
mental or physical disability.
2. “Commissioner” means the labor commissioner, appointed
pursuant to section 91.2.
3. “Eligible employee” means an employee as defined in
section 91A.2 who has been employed for at least twelve months
and for at least one thousand two hundred fifty hours during
the previous twelve-month period by the employer from whom
leave permitted by this chapter is requested.
4. “Employer” means a person who, in this state, employs
fifty or more natural persons for each working day during
each of twenty or more calendar work weeks in the current or
preceding calendar year.
5. “Leave” means full or partial absence from an eligible
employee’s ordinary job responsibilities either with full or
partial pay or without pay.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 91F.2 Leave for parent-teacher
conferences authorized.
Except as provided in section 91F.3, an eligible employee
shall be entitled to take leave to attend a parent-teacher
conference.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 91F.3 Exemption.
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1. An employer may deny leave under section 91F.2 to an
eligible employee if all of the following apply:
a. Denial is necessary to prevent substantial economic
injury to the operations of the employer.
b. The employer notifies the employee of the intent of the
employer to deny restoration of the employee’s position on such
basis at the time the employer determines that such injury
would occur.
c. In any case in which the leave has commenced, the
employee elects not to return to employment after receiving
such notice.
2. This section applies only to an eligible employee who
is a salaried employee and who is among the highest-paid ten
percent of the employees employed by the employer within
seventy-five miles of the facility at which the eligible
employee is employed.
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 91F.4 Leave requirements.
1. An employer shall not be required to pay an eligible
employee for any leave taken pursuant to section 91F.2.
However, an eligible employee taking leave permitted by this
chapter may elect to substitute for the leave permitted under
this chapter any of the eligible employee’s accrued vacation
leave or other accrued time off during such period or any other
paid or unpaid time off negotiated with the employer.
2. An eligible employee shall provide the employer with
reasonable advance notice of foreseeable need for leave
permitted by this chapter. Reasonable notice shall be at least
thirty days where practical. An eligible employee shall make
a reasonable effort in the scheduling of leave so as not to
unduly disrupt the operations of an employer.
3. An employer may require that a request for leave under
this chapter be supported by a certification issued by a
school superintendent, principal, or other school authority of
the eligible employee’s child. The eligible employee shall
provide, in a timely manner, a copy of such certification to
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H.F. 407
the employer. The certification shall include the date on
which the leave is expected to occur.
Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 91F.5 Employer notice.
An employer shall post, in conspicuous places on the
premises of the employer where notices to eligible employees
and applicants for employment are customarily posted, a notice,
to be prepared or approved by the commissioner, setting forth
excerpts from, or summaries of, the pertinent provisions of
this chapter. The commissioner may establish by rule the
requirements for such notice.
Sec. 7. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies only to those
collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
This bill provides that an eligible employee is entitled to
take employment leave to attend a parent-teacher conference.
“Leave” is defined as full or partial absence from an eligible
employee’s ordinary job responsibilities either with full or
partial pay or without pay. An “eligible employee” is defined
as an employee as defined in Code section 91A.2 who has been
employed for at least 12 months and for least 1,250 hours of
service during the previous 12-month period by the employer
from whom leave is requested. An “employer” is defined as a
person who, in this state, employs 50 or more natural persons
for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar work
weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
The bill provides that an employer may deny the leave
to an eligible employee if denial is necessary to prevent
substantial economic injury to the operations of the employer;
the employer notifies the employee of the employer’s intent to
deny restoration of the employee’s position on such basis at
the time the employer determines that such injury would occur;
and in any case in which the leave has commenced, the employee
elects not to return to employment after receiving such notice.
This exemption applies only to an eligible employee who is a
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H.F. 407
salaried employee and who is among the highest paid 10 percent
of the employees employed by the employer within 75 miles of
the facility at which the employee is employed.
The bill provides that the leave need not be paid leave.
However, an eligible employee may elect to substitute for the
leave any of the eligible employee’s accrued vacation leave or
other accrued time off during such period or any other paid or
unpaid time off negotiated with the employer.
The bill requires an eligible employee to provide the
employer with reasonable advance notice of foreseeable need for
the leave. Reasonable notice shall be at least 30 days where
practical. An eligible employee is also required to make a
reasonable effort in the scheduling of the leave so as not to
unduly disrupt the operations of an employer.
The bill provides that an employer may require that a request
for leave be supported by a certification issued by a school
superintendent, principal, or other school authority of the
eligible employee’s child. The eligible employee must then
provide, in a timely manner, certification to the employer.
The certification is to include the date on which the leave is
to occur.
The bill requires each employer to post a notice, to be
prepared or approved by the labor commissioner, setting forth
excerpts from, or summaries of, the pertinent provisions of the
bill.
The bill applies to only those collective bargaining
agreements entered into on or after the effective date of the
bill.
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