70A.25  Educational leave — educational assistance.
  1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
  a.  “Educational assistance” means reimbursement for tuition, fees, books or other expenses incurred by a state employee in taking coursework at an educational institution or attending a workshop, seminar, or conference without a reduction in ordinary job responsibilities and that the appointing authority determines contributes to the growth and development of the employee in the employee’s present position or in a position to which the employee may reasonably be assigned.
  b.  “Educational leave” means full or partial absence from an employee’s ordinary job responsibilities either with full or partial pay or without pay, to attend a course of study at an educational institution or a course of study conducted by a reputable sponsor on behalf of an educational institution. Educational leave may include reimbursement for all or a portion of educational expenses incurred.
  c.  “Educational leave” and “educational assistance” do not apply to job training, employee development programs, or departmental seminars that are conducted or sponsored by a state agency.
  2.  General applicability.
  a.  The purpose of educational leave with full or partial pay and educational assistance is to assist state employees to develop skills that will improve their ability to perform state job responsibilities or in the case of educational leave to also provide training and educational opportunities for employees of a state agency that will enable the agency director to better meet the staffing needs of the state agency.
  b.  The director of the department of administrative services shall not allow the payment of expenses for courses unless the department, agency, or commission can demonstrate a relationship between the employee’s job responsibilities and the courses to be taken or that the employee is required to learn new skills for which the department, agency, or commission has a need.
  3.  Reporting and review.
  a.  The director of the department of administrative services shall periodically and at least annually review the implementation of educational leave and educational assistance programs by state agencies.
  b.  The head of each state agency, department, or commission shall report to the director of the department of administrative services and the legislative council not later than October 1 of each year the direct and indirect costs to the agency of educational leave and educational assistance granted to agency employees during the preceding fiscal year. The report shall include an estimate of costs saved by the state agency, department, or commission through the use of educational leave and educational assistance. As used in this subsection, “indirect costs” includes but is not limited to adjustments in employee work assignments and agency operations necessitated by educational leave or assistance.
  c.  The report to the director of the department of administrative services and legislative council shall identify the relationship of each course to the employee who is granted educational leave and how the course may improve the employee’s job performance or the task to be accomplished within the agency.
  d.  The report to the director of the department of administrative services and the legislative council shall also include:
  (1)  The number of employees who were granted educational leave and the amount of tuition reimbursement allowed by the department, agency or commission.
  (2)  The number of employees who were granted a leave from work to attend the classes and who continued to receive their salary and the number of hours of work which those employees were excused.
  (3)  The number of employees who were granted a temporary leave of absence from work to attend the classes without pay and the amount of time missed.
85 Acts, ch 215, §2
CS85, §79.25
86 Acts, ch 1245, §237 – 239
C93, §70A.25
2000 Acts, ch 1171, §22 – 24; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §201