In the News

Emergency Service Providers Job Protection

As of July 1, 2009 Iowa Code 100B has been amended to provide job protections for volunteer emergency services providers such as volunteer fire and paramedics.  The protections that have been added to the law are fairly limited:

1. You may not fire an employee for absenteeism when the reason he/she is late or absent is because he/she is providing emergency services.

2. The employee is required to provide notice to the employer where possible.

3. You can deduct all lost time from wages.

4. You can require that the employee provide a formal notice from the emergency supervisor relating to the time away from work.

From a practical standpoint it is unlikely that this will affect your day to day employment practices.  Companies may have policies that protect the employee's wages up to a certain amount yearly for time spent away from work on emergency calls.  Policies of this type are not affected by the new law as any wages paid for time out is more than the law requires.  If you have a points system for attendance - note that no points may be accrued for emergency calls.

If you have questions regarding this legal update contact Jo Ellen Whitney at 515.288.2500.