House File 2463

                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  T. TAYLOR


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to counseling and time off for railroad employees
  2    involved in certain accidents.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 6048YH 80
  5 dea/gg/14

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  327F.32  RAILROAD ACCIDENTS ==
  1  2 EMPLOYEE LEAVE AND TRAUMA COUNSELING.
  1  3    1.  A railroad company shall make trauma counseling
  1  4 available to an employee of the railroad company involved in
  1  5 an accident on a railway or right=of=way under the control of
  1  6 the company if the accident results in the death of or serious
  1  7 bodily injury to a person.  The counseling shall be made
  1  8 available to the employee within forty=eight hours of the
  1  9 accident.
  1 10    2.  An employee involved in an accident described in
  1 11 subsection 1 shall be given leave from duty with compensation
  1 12 and applicable benefits for a minimum of three days following
  1 13 the accident.  If the railroad company makes an affirmative
  1 14 showing that the accident was due to the negligence or willful
  1 15 act of an employee involved in an accident described in
  1 16 subsection 1, the leave provided to the employee who acted
  1 17 negligently or willfully may be provided without compensation
  1 18 and benefits.
  1 19    3.  An engineer returning to duty following leave provided
  1 20 pursuant to subsection 2 shall, upon request, be assigned an
  1 21 assistant engineer or other qualified person to accompany the
  1 22 engineer for such time as may be necessary to guarantee the
  1 23 public safety or until a qualified medical practitioner
  1 24 determines that the engineer does not suffer from a
  1 25 posttraumatic stress disorder.
  1 26    4.  The director shall adopt rules for administration and
  1 27 enforcement of this section.
  1 28                           EXPLANATION
  1 29    This bill requires that a railroad company must make trauma
  1 30 counseling available to an employee who is involved in an
  1 31 accident on a railway or right=of=way under the company's
  1 32 control if the accident results in serious bodily injury to a
  1 33 person or death of a person.  The employee is to be given
  1 34 three days' leave with compensation and benefits.  However, if
  1 35 the railroad company makes an affirmative showing that the
  2  1 accident was due to the negligence or a willful act of the
  2  2 employee, the leave may be provided without compensation and
  2  3 benefits.
  2  4    At the employee's request, the railroad company shall
  2  5 assign an assistant engineer or other qualified person to
  2  6 accompany an engineer returning from leave after an accident
  2  7 for as long as is necessary to guarantee the public safety, or
  2  8 until a qualified medical practitioner determines that the
  2  9 engineer is not suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
  2 10 LSB 6048YH 80
  2 11 dea/gg/14