Senate File 244 - Introduced SENATE FILE 244 BY JOCHUM A BILL FOR An Act concerning absences from work by veterans and members of 1 the military. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2351XS (2) 87 ec/nh

S.F. 244 Section 1. Section 29A.43, subsection 1, Code 2017, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. A person shall not discriminate against any officer or 3 enlisted person of the national guard or organized reserves 4 of the armed forces of the United States or any member of the 5 civil air patrol because of that membership. An employer, 6 or agent of an employer, shall not discharge a person from 7 employment because of being an officer or enlisted person of 8 the military forces of the state or member of the civil air 9 patrol, or hinder or prevent the officer or enlisted person or 10 member of the civil air patrol from performing any military 11 service or civil air patrol duty the person is called upon 12 to perform by proper authority. A member of the national 13 guard or organized reserves of the armed forces of the United 14 States ordered to temporary duty or service, as defined in 15 section 29A.1, subsection 3, 8, or 12 , or a member of the 16 civil air patrol performing duty pursuant to section 29A.3A , 17 for any purpose is entitled to a leave of absence during 18 the period of the duty or service, from the member’s private 19 employment unless the employment is of a temporary nature. 20 Upon completion of the duty or service, the employer shall 21 restore the person to the position held prior to the leave of 22 absence or employ the person in a position of like seniority, 23 status, and pay. However, the person shall give evidence to 24 the employer of satisfactory completion of the duty or service, 25 and that the person is still qualified to perform the duties 26 of the position. The period of absence shall be construed as 27 an excused absence with leave, and shall in no way affect the 28 employee’s rights to vacation, sick leave, bonus, or other 29 employment benefits relating to the employee’s particular 30 employment or be considered an absence that would affect the 31 employee’s rights for any bonus or other employee benefit 32 provided by the employer based on attendance at work . 33 Sec. 2. Section 91A.5A, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended 34 to read as follows: 35 -1- LSB 2351XS (2) 87 ec/nh 1/ 2

S.F. 244 1. An employer shall provide each employee who is a 1 veteran, as defined in section 35.1 , with holiday time off for 2 Veterans Day, November 11, if the employee would otherwise be 3 required to work on that day, as provided in this section . If 4 an employee is provided holiday time off for Veterans Day as 5 provided in this section, the employer shall not classify the 6 time off as an absence from work for purposes of determining 7 whether the employee is eligible for any benefit or bonus 8 provided by the employer based on attendance at work. 9 EXPLANATION 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 11 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 12 This bill concerns absences from work by members of the 13 military and veterans. 14 Code section 29A.43, concerning leaves of absence from 15 employment by any officer or enlisted person of the national 16 guard or organized reserves of the armed forces of the United 17 States or any member of the civil air patrol, is amended. The 18 bill provides that any absence from work based on that military 19 membership shall be considered an excused absence with leave 20 and shall not be considered an absence that would affect the 21 employee’s rights for any bonus or other employee benefit 22 provided by the employer based on attendance at work. 23 Code section 91A.5A, concerning Veterans Day off for 24 veterans, is amended to provide that if a veteran is provided 25 Veterans Day off, the employer shall not classify the time off 26 as an absence from work for purposes of determining whether the 27 employee is eligible for any benefit or bonus provided by the 28 employer based on attendance at work. 29 -2- LSB 2351XS (2) 87 ec/nh 2/ 2