Bill Text: IA SF244 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act concerning absences from work by veterans and members of the military.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-20 - Subcommittee: Costello, Bowman, and Edler. S.J. 359. [SF244 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF244-Introduced.html

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Senate File 244 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  JOCHUM

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act concerning absences from work by veterans and members of
  2    the military.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 29A.43, subsection 1, Code 2017, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  A person shall not discriminate against any officer or
  1  4 enlisted person of the national guard or organized reserves
  1  5 of the armed forces of the United States or any member of the
  1  6 civil air patrol because of that membership. An employer,
  1  7 or agent of an employer, shall not discharge a person from
  1  8 employment because of being an officer or enlisted person of
  1  9 the military forces of the state or member of the civil air
  1 10 patrol, or hinder or prevent the officer or enlisted person or
  1 11 member of the civil air patrol from performing any military
  1 12 service or civil air patrol duty the person is called upon
  1 13 to perform by proper authority. A member of the national
  1 14 guard or organized reserves of the armed forces of the United
  1 15 States ordered to temporary duty or service, as defined in
  1 16 section 29A.1, subsection 3, 8, or 12, or a member of the
  1 17 civil air patrol performing duty pursuant to section 29A.3A,
  1 18 for any purpose is entitled to a leave of absence during
  1 19 the period of the duty or service, from the member's private
  1 20 employment unless the employment is of a temporary nature.
  1 21 Upon completion of the duty or service, the employer shall
  1 22 restore the person to the position held prior to the leave of
  1 23 absence or employ the person in a position of like seniority,
  1 24 status, and pay. However, the person shall give evidence to
  1 25 the employer of satisfactory completion of the duty or service,
  1 26 and that the person is still qualified to perform the duties
  1 27 of the position. The period of absence shall be construed as
  1 28 an excused absence with leave, and shall in no way affect the
  1 29 employee's rights to vacation, sick leave, bonus, or other
  1 30 employment benefits relating to the employee's particular
  1 31 employment or be considered an absence that would affect the
  1 32 employee's rights for any bonus or other employee benefit
  1 33 provided by the employer based on attendance at work.
  1 34    Sec. 2.  Section 91A.5A, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
  1 35 to read as follows:
  2  1    1.  An employer shall provide each employee who is a
  2  2 veteran, as defined in section 35.1, with holiday time off for
  2  3 Veterans Day, November 11, if the employee would otherwise be
  2  4 required to work on that day, as provided in this section.  If
  2  5 an employee is provided holiday time off for Veterans Day as
  2  6 provided in this section, the employer shall not classify the
  2  7 time off as an absence from work for purposes of determining
  2  8 whether the employee is eligible for any benefit or bonus
  2  9 provided by the employer based on attendance at work.
  2 10                           EXPLANATION
  2 11 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 12 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 13    This bill concerns absences from work by members of the
  2 14 military and veterans.
  2 15    Code section 29A.43, concerning leaves of absence from
  2 16 employment by any officer or enlisted person of the national
  2 17 guard or organized reserves of the armed forces of the United
  2 18 States or any member of the civil air patrol, is amended.  The
  2 19 bill provides that any absence from work based on that military
  2 20 membership shall be considered an excused absence with leave
  2 21 and shall not be considered an absence that would affect the
  2 22 employee's rights for any bonus or other employee benefit
  2 23 provided by the employer based on attendance at work.
  2 24    Code section 91A.5A, concerning Veterans Day off for
  2 25 veterans, is amended to provide that if a veteran is provided
  2 26 Veterans Day off, the employer shall not classify the time off
  2 27 as an absence from work for purposes of determining whether the
  2 28 employee is eligible for any benefit or bonus provided by the
  2 29 employer based on attendance at work.
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