10 Key Questions About Leave Laws in Iowa

Leave laws in Iowa are primarily governed by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for serious health conditions and other qualifying family and medical reasons.

The state law also has leave provisions for military service, jury duty, and voting.

Additionally, Iowa’s leave laws offer paid benefits to state employees, including Paid Parental Leave, paid military service leave, sick leave, donated vacation time during a catastrophic illness or injury, and more.

Iowa leave laws give employees paid and unpaid time off for various reasons, including:

• Family and Medical Leave (FMLA): Under the federal FMLA, eligible employees in Iowa can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child, to care for a serious health condition of the employee or a family member, or for a qualifying situation related to a family member’s military duty. FMLA also offers 26 weeks of military caregiver leave. State employees who are eligible for FMLA can retain up to 80 hours of accrued vacation leave per fiscal year.
• Sick Leave: Most state employees in Iowa accrue sick leave with pay based on their previously accrued sick leave balance. For example, an employee who has 750 hours or less in their sick leave balance will earn 1.5 days of sick leave each month. This leave can be used for an employee’s physical or mental illness or to recover from childbirth. Employees can also use up to 40 hours of sick leave per year to care for an immediate family member or when death occurs in the family. Employees with at least 240 hours of sick leave can choose to convert unused sick leave into extra vacation. If no sick leave is used in a month, employees get four hours of vacation instead. If sick leave drops below 240 hours, no conversion is allowed.
• Vacation Leave: State employees in Iowa accrue paid vacation leave based on their length of service, starting at two weeks per year during the first year of service and increasing with tenure, up to five weeks of vacation for employees in their 25th year of service. Employees cannot accrue vacation leave more than twice their annual rate of accrual. Vacation leave needs to be approved by the agency before use.
• Military Service Leave: Under USERRA, employees in Iowa receive job-protected leave for military duty. State employees in Iowa who are called to military duty or are members of the National Guard, reserves, or other components of the military of the State of Iowa or the U.S. are entitled to up to 30 paid military service days per calendar year.
• Jury Duty Leave: Employees in Iowa are entitled to job-protected leave for serving jury duty, though employers are not required to pay employees during this time off. However, jurors receive $30 a day from the court for up to seven days of jury service, and $50 per day for each day thereafter till the service lasts. State employees may be paid for serving as a juror if the court case is unrelated to the employee or their state employment. To receive full wages, state employees must submit any compensation received from the court to their state agency’s accounting office.
• Donation Leave: Certain state employees in Iowa can take up to five workdays for bone marrow donation, up to 30 workdays for living organ donors, and up to two consecutive hours in a workday for blood donation. During this time off, employees are paid at their regular rate of pay.
• Donated Catastrophic Illness Leave: If a state employee in Iowa or their immediate family member experiences a catastrophic illness or injury and they have exhausted all paid time off, they may be eligible to receive donated vacation time from other employees.
• Holiday Leave: State employees in Iowa receive paid leave for state-recognized holidays. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, it is observed on the preceding Friday, and if it falls on a Sunday, it is observed on Monday. A state employee who accrues sick leave or vacation and is required to work on a holiday because of their nature of employment may be granted compensatory time off or cash payment, as decided by their appointing authority.
• Voting Leave: Employees in Iowa who do not have two consecutive non-working hours while the polls are open are entitled to paid time off to vote, ensuring a total of two consecutive hours to vote. Employees must request this leave in writing before the election day, and the employer may designate the time to be taken off.
• Disaster Service Volunteer Leave: Iowa state employees who are certified disaster service volunteers of the American Red Cross may receive up to 15 paid working days in a 12-month period to provide disaster relief services, upon approval from their appointing authority. This leave is granted without loss of seniority, pay, benefits, or accrued leave.
• Paid Parental Leave: State employees in Iowa who are eligible for the federal FMLA can also request up to four weeks of paid parental leave for childbirth or adoption.

The length of a leave of absence in Iowa varies by leave type and employee eligibility and accrual:

• Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected FMLA leave, and up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave in a 12-month period.
• The duration of paid sick leave and paid vacation leave for state employees depends on the number of days an employee needs, leave accrual, and leave balance.
• Iowa employees can take job-protected leave for the duration of their military service under USERRA. Eligible state employees receive up to 30 paid military service days per calendar year.
• Jury duty leave lasts for the required duration of jury service.
• State employees who are bone marrow donors receive up to five paid days, living organ donors receive up to 30 paid leave days, and blood donors receive up to two consecutive hours off in a workday.
• Employees get two hours of paid time off to vote during elections.
• Disaster service volunteers may receive up to 15 days of paid leave in a 12-month period.
• Eligible state employees receive up to four weeks of paid parental leave.

A leave of absence in Iowa can be paid or unpaid, depending on the type of leave, employer coverage, and an employee’s eligibility.

For example, leave of absence under FMLA and USERRA is unpaid. Whereas, state employees in Iowa receive several paid leaves, including sick leave, vacation leave, state holidays, military service leave, parental leave, and donated leave for a catastrophic illness.

While an employee is on a leave of absence in Iowa under FMLA, their group health insurance must be maintained by the employer under the same terms as if they were working. However, the employee must continue paying their share of premiums during unpaid leave.

Other benefits, such as life insurance, disability, and retirement contributions, must also be restored when the employee returns from FMLA leave.

Similarly, employees in Iowa who are on military leave, protected by USERRA, can keep their employer-sponsored health insurance for up to 24 months. Even if they drop coverage while on military leave, their health plan benefits must be reinstated without waiting periods or exclusions upon return from leave.

State employees on active military service leave in Iowa get health and dental benefits from the federal government. Coverage under State plans continues as long as the employee uses paid time off. Once paid leave ends and unpaid military leave (after 30 days) begins, the State stops paying its share. However, coverage under the State plan is reinstated when the employee returns to work.

State employees in Iowa on paid disaster service volunteer leave also keep their insurance and health coverage benefits.

Yes, for state employees in Iowa, some unused leave can roll over with restrictions:

• Unused vacation leave can roll over, but only up to twice the employee’s annual accrual rate (For example, if an employee earns two weeks of vacation leave per year, they can carry over up to four weeks of vacation leave).
• Unused sick leave can roll over to the next year in Iowa without any accrual cap. If an employee has 240 hours of sick leave, they may choose to convert unused sick leave into vacation time. If no sick leave is used in a month, the employee can earn four hours of vacation. This conversion stops if the sick leave balance drops below 240 hours, and the extra vacation earned can go up to a maximum of 96 hours.

Yes, part-time state employees in Iowa are entitled to sick leave and vacation leave on a prorated basis. Part-time state employees who are eligible to accrue vacation are also entitled to donated leave for their own or a family member’s catastrophic illness.

Other than this, part-time employees in Iowa who meet the federal requirements for hours worked and years of service can also qualify for FMLA leave.

Yes. Iowa is an at-will employment state, so an employee may be terminated at any time, for any lawful reason (or no reason), as long as it doesn’t violate other laws.

However, under the FMLA (if both employee and employer are covered), the employee cannot be terminated in retaliation for taking the protected leave. Similarly, employees in Iowa have the right to be reinstated to the same (or equivalent) job after military leave under USERRA.

An employee can still be terminated for a lawful, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reason unrelated to the leave itself, or in cases when these leave protections no longer apply. For example, Iowa’s law says that an employee who fails to return to work on the agreed-upon date from an approved leave of absence without pay may be considered to have voluntarily resigned, which means they can be terminated.

Yes, employees in Iowa are allowed to voluntarily quit their jobs at any time, including while they are on leave. However, this decision may affect your eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits.

For FMLA violations, employees can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). They may also pursue a civil action against the employer.

For violations related to discrimination in employment, employees can contact the Iowa Office of Civil Rights (ICRC).