HF 675 (LSB 2159YH (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 675

BY  COOLING, WILBURN, JAMES, LEVIN, B. MEYER, KONFRST, MATSON, KRESSIG, BAGNIEWSKI, MADISON, CROKEN, R. JOHNSON, AMOS JR., SRINIVAS, EHLERT, OLSON, SCHOLTEN, WESSEL-KROESCHELL, and NIELSEN

A BILL FOR

An Act requiring employers to provide employees with meal periods and rest periods and providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 10A.202, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The department is responsible for the administration of the laws of this state under chapters 88A, 88B, 89, 89A, 90A, 91A, 91C, 91D, 91E, 91F, 92, and such other labor-services duties assigned to the department or director.
    Sec. 2.  Section 10A.204, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The director, in consultation with the labor commissioner, shall, at the time provided by law, make an annual report to the governor setting forth in appropriate form the business and expense of the division and department under this subchapter for the preceding year, the number of remedial actions taken under chapter 89A, the number of disputes or violations processed by the division or department and the disposition of the disputes or violations, and other matters pertaining to the division or department under this subchapter which are of public interest, together with recommendations for change or amendment of the laws in this chapter and chapters 88, 88A, 88B, 89, 89A, 89B, 90A, 91A, 91C, 91D, 91E, 91F, and 92, and sections 85.67A and 85.68, and the recommendations, if any, shall be transmitted by the governor to the first general assembly in session after the report is filed.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  91F.1  Meal and rest periods —— requirements.  
   1.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
   a.  “Director” means the director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing.
   b.  “Employee” means a natural person who is employed in this state for wages by an employer.
   c.  “Employer” means a person, as defined in section 4.1, who in this state employs for wages a natural person. An employer does not include a client, patient, customer, or other person who obtains professional services from a licensed person providing the services on a fee service basis or as an independent contractor.
   2.  An employer shall provide an employee with appropriate meal periods and appropriate rest periods.
   a.  An appropriate meal period shall be a period of not less than thirty minutes during an employee’s work period in which an employee works at least seven hours. The meal period shall be taken between the second and fifth hours. If an employee works more than seven hours, the meal period shall be taken between the third and sixth hours.
   b.  An appropriate rest period shall be a paid period of not less than ten minutes during every consecutive four-hour period of work taken by an employee approximately in the middle of each four-hour period. The rest period is in addition to a meal period, if applicable, and shall not be added to a meal period or deducted from the work period to reduce the overall length of the total work period.
   3.  An employer is not required to pay for a meal period if an employee is free from work duties during the employee’s entire meal period. An employee shall be paid for the meal period if any of the following occur:
   a.  The employee is required or allowed to remain on duty.
   b.  The employee is required to be on-call at the work premises or designated worksite in order to be available to return to duty even if the employee is not called back to duty.
   c.  The employee is called back to duty during the employee’s meal period even though the employee is not usually on-call during the meal period.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  91F.2  Meal and rest periods —— exemptions.  
   1.  Meal and rest period requirements may be modified by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement if the collective bargaining agreement entered into by the employees prescribes specific terms concerning meal periods and rest periods.
   2.  Meal and rest period requirements apply to hourly paid and salary-paid employees. Management or employees involved in agricultural jobs are not required to have breaks or meal breaks. For the purposes of this section, agricultural jobs do not include work in the production of seed, limited to removal of off-type plants and corn tassels and hand-pollinating during the months of June, July, and August by persons ages fourteen and older.
   3.  Meal period requirements may be waived if an employer shows that the ordinary nature and circumstance of the work prevented the employer from establishing and maintaining a regularly scheduled meal period. The factors that may be considered regarding the waiver of the requirements are limited to the following:
   a.  The safety and health needs of employees, patients, clients, and the public.
   b.  The lack of other employees available to provide relief to an employee.
   c.  The cost involved in shutdown and startup of machinery in continuous operation of the industrial process.
   d.  The intermittent and unpredictable workflow not controlled by the employer or employee.
   e.  Unforeseeable equipment failures, emergencies, or acts of nature that require immediate and uninterrupted attention by an employee.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  91F.3  Civil penalties.  
   1.  Any employer who violates the provisions of this chapter or the rules adopted pursuant to this chapter is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each violation. The director may recover the civil penalty according to subsections 2 through 5. Any civil penalty recovered shall be deposited in the general fund of the state.
   2.  The director may propose that an employer be assessed a civil penalty by serving the employer with notice of such proposal in the same manner as an original notice is served under the rules of civil procedure. Upon service of such notice, the proposed assessment shall be treated as a contested case under chapter 17A. However, to remain a contested case, an employer must request a hearing within thirty days of being served.
   3.  If an employer does not request a hearing pursuant to subsection 2 or if the director determines, after an appropriate hearing, that an employer is in violation of this chapter or the rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, the director shall assess a civil penalty which is consistent with the provisions of subsection 1 and which is rendered with due consideration for the penalty amount in terms of the size of the employer’s business, the gravity of the violation, the good faith of the employer, and the history of previous violations.
   4.  An employer may seek judicial review of any assessment rendered under subsection 3 by instituting proceedings for judicial review pursuant to chapter 17A. However, such proceedings must be instituted in the district court of the county in which the violation or one of the violations occurred and within thirty days of the day on which the employer was notified that an assessment has been rendered. Also, an employer may be required, at the discretion of the district court and upon instituting such proceedings, to deposit the amount assessed with the clerk of the district court. Any moneys so deposited shall either be returned to the employer or be forwarded to the director for deposit in the general fund of the state, depending on the outcome of the judicial review, including any appeal to the supreme court.
   5.  After the time for seeking judicial review has expired or after all judicial review has been exhausted and the director’s assessment has been upheld, the director shall request the attorney general to recover the assessed penalties in a civil action.
    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  91F.4  Duties and authority of director.  
   1.  The director shall provide further exemptions from the provisions in this chapter by rule when reasonable.
   2.  In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the director or the director’s designee, upon presenting appropriate credentials to the employer or agent of the employer, may do any of the following:
   a.  Inspect employment records relating to meal and rest periods for employees.
   b.  Interview an employer or employee or an agent of the employer or employee, during working hours or at other reasonable times.
   3.  The director shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this chapter.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires an employer to provide an employee with appropriate meal periods and appropriate rest periods.
   The bill states that an appropriate meal period shall be not less than 30 minutes during an employee’s work period of at least seven hours. The meal period is to be taken between the second and fifth hours of the work or, if the employee works more than seven hours, between the third and sixth hours.
   The bill states that an appropriate rest period shall be a paid period of not less than 10 minutes during every four-hour work period. The rest period is taken in the middle of the work period. The rest period is in addition to the meal period and cannot be added to the meal period or deducted from the work period to reduce the overall length of the total work period.
   The bill defines an “employee” as a natural person who is employed in this state for wages by an employer. An “employer” is defined as a person, as defined in Code section 4.1, who employs a natural person for wages.
   The bill provides that an employer is not required to pay for a meal period if an employee is free from work duties during the employee’s entire meal period.
   The bill allows three exemptions to the meal and rest period requirements. The first exemption is if the meal and rest period requirements are modified by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. However, the exemption is valid only if the collective bargaining agreement entered into by the employees prescribes specific terms concerning meal periods and rest periods.
   The second exemption states that meal and rest period requirements apply to hourly paid and salary-paid employees. However, management or employees involved in certain agricultural jobs are not required to have breaks or meal breaks.
   The third exemption is if an employer shows that the ordinary nature and circumstance of the work prevented the employer from establishing and maintaining a regular scheduled meal period.
   The bill provides civil penalties for violating the new Code chapter. An employer who violates the provisions shall be subject to a penalty of up to $100 for each violation. The director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing may recover the penalties under Code chapter 17A contested case procedures. Any penalties recovered shall be deposited in the general fund of the state.
   The director may propose that an employer be assessed a penalty by serving the employer with notice of a penalty in the same manner as an original notice is served under the rules of civil procedure.
   The bill provides the director with the authority to provide further exemptions from the requirements of the bill by rule when reasonable. Also, the director or the director’s designee may inspect employment records relating to rest periods for employees and interview an employer or employee or an agent of the employer or employee, during working hours or at other reasonable times.