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House File 291 - EnrolledAn Actrelating to employment matters involving public employees
including collective bargaining, educator employment
matters, personnel records and settlement agreements, city
civil service requirements, and health insurance matters,
making penalties applicable, and including effective date,
applicability, and transition provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
DIVISION I
Public employee collective bargaining
Section 1. Section 20.3, Code 2017, is amended by adding
the following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 10A. “Public safety employee” means a
public employee who is employed as one of the following:
a. A sheriff’s regular deputy.
b. A marshal or police officer of a city, township, or
special-purpose district or authority who is a member of a
paid police department.
c. A member, except a non-peace officer member, of the
division of state patrol, narcotics enforcement, state fire
-1- marshal, or criminal investigation, including but not limited
to a gaming enforcement officer, who has been duly appointed
by the department of public safety in accordance with section
80.15.
d. A conservation officer or park ranger as authorized by
section 456A.13.
e. A permanent or full-time fire fighter of a city,
township, or special-purpose district or authority who is a
member of a paid fire department.
f. A peace officer designated by the department of
transportation under section 321.477 who is subject to
mandated law enforcement training.
NEW SUBSECTION. 12. “Supplemental pay” means a payment
of moneys or other thing of value that is in addition to
compensation received pursuant to any other permitted subject
of negotiation specified in section 20.9 and is related to the
employment relationship.
Sec. 2. Section 20.6, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
1. Interpret, apply, and administer Administer the
provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 3. Section 20.6, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 6. Appoint a certified shorthand reporter
to report state employee grievance and discipline resolution
proceedings pursuant to section 8A.415 and fix a reasonable
amount of compensation for such service and for any transcript
requested by the board, which amounts shall be taxed as other
costs.
NEW SUBSECTION. 7. Contract with a vendor as the board
may deem necessary to conduct elections required by section
20.15 on behalf of the board. The board shall establish fees
by rule pursuant to chapter 17A to cover the cost of elections
required by section 20.15. Such fees shall be paid in advance
of an election and shall be paid by each employee organization
listed on the ballot.
Sec. 4. Section 20.7, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
2. Hire, evaluate, promote, demote, transfer, assign and
-1-retain public employees in positions within the public agency.
Sec. 5. Section 20.8, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 5. Exercise any right or seek any remedy
provided by law, including but not limited to those rights and
remedies available under sections 70A.28 and 70A.29, chapter
8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 216 and 400.
Sec. 6. Section 20.9, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.9 Scope of negotiations.
1. The For negotiations regarding a bargaining unit with
at least thirty percent of members who are public safety
employees, the public employer and the employee organization
shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings reasonably
in advance of the public employer’s budget-making process,
to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours,
vacations, insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift
differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay,
seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health
and safety matters, evaluation procedures, procedures for
staff reduction, in-service training, grievance procedures
for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, and
other matters mutually agreed upon. Negotiations shall also
include terms authorizing dues checkoff for members of the
employee organization and grievance procedures for resolving
any questions arising under the agreement, which shall be
embodied in a written agreement and signed by the parties.
If an agreement provides for dues checkoff, a member’s dues
may be checked off only upon the member’s written request
and the member may terminate the dues checkoff at any time
by giving thirty days’ written notice. For negotiations
regarding a bargaining unit that does not have at least
thirty percent of members who are public safety employees, the
public employer and the employee organization shall meet at
reasonable times, including meetings reasonably in advance
of the public employer’s budget-making process, to negotiate
in good faith with respect to base wages and other matters
mutually agreed upon. Such obligation to negotiate in good
faith does not compel either party to agree to a proposal
-2-or make a concession. Mandatory subjects of negotiation
specified in this subsection shall be interpreted narrowly and
restrictively.
2. Nothing in this section shall diminish the authority
and power of the department of administrative services, board
of regents’ merit system, Iowa public broadcasting board’s
merit system, or any civil service commission established by
constitutional provision, statute, charter, or special act to
recruit employees, prepare, conduct, and grade examinations,
rate candidates in order of their relative scores for
certification for appointment or promotion or for other
matters of classification, reclassification, or appeal rights
in the classified service of the public employer served.
3. All retirement systems, dues checkoffs, and other
payroll deductions for political action committees or other
political contributions or political activities shall be
excluded from the scope of negotiations. For negotiations
regarding a bargaining unit that does not have at least thirty
percent of members who are public safety employees, insurance,
leaves of absence for political activities, supplemental pay,
transfer procedures, evaluation procedures, procedures for
staff reduction, and subcontracting public services shall also
be excluded from the scope of negotiations.
4. The term of a contract entered into pursuant to this
chapter shall not exceed five years.
Sec. 7. Section 20.10, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH. j. Negotiate or attempt to negotiate
directly with a member of the governing board of a public
employer if the public employer has appointed or authorized
a bargaining representative for the purpose of bargaining
with the public employees or their representative, unless the
member of the governing board is the designated bargaining
representative of the public employer.
Sec. 8. Section 20.12, subsection 5, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
5. If an employee organization or any of its officers
is held to be in contempt of court for failure to comply
with an injunction pursuant to this section, or is convicted
-3-of violating this section, the employee organization shall
be immediately decertified, shall cease to represent the
bargaining unit, shall cease to receive any dues by checkoff,
and may again be certified only after twelve twenty-four
months have elapsed from the effective date of decertification
and only after if a new compliance with petition for
certification pursuant to section 20.14 is filed and a new
certification election pursuant to section 20.15 is held.
The penalties provided in this section may be suspended or
modified by the court, but only upon request of the public
employer and only if the court determines the suspension or
modification is in the public interest.
Sec. 9. Section 20.15, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.15 Elections — agreements with the state.
1. Initial certification elections.
a. Upon the filing of a petition for certification of an
employee organization, the board shall submit a question to
the public employees at an election in the bargaining unit
found appropriate by the board. The question on the ballot
shall permit the public employees to vote for no bargaining
representation or for any employee organization which has
petitioned for certification or which has presented proof
satisfactory to the board of support of ten thirty percent or
more of the public employees in the appropriate unit.
2. b. (1) If a majority of the votes cast on the
question is public employees in the bargaining unit vote for
no bargaining representation, the public employees in the
bargaining unit found appropriate by the board shall not be
represented by an employee organization.
(2) If a majority of the votes cast on the question is
public employees in the bargaining unit vote for a listed
employee organization, then that employee organization shall
represent the public employees in the bargaining unit found
appropriate by the board.
3. (3) If none of the choices on the ballot receive the
vote of a majority of the public employees voting in the
bargaining unit, the board shall conduct a runoff election
among the two choices receiving the greatest number of votes
-4- the public employees in the bargaining unit found appropriate
by the board shall not be represented by an employee
organization.
c. The board shall not consider a petition for
certification of an employee organization as the exclusive
representative of a bargaining unit unless a period of two
years has elapsed from the date of the last certification
election in which an employee organization was not certified
as the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit, of
the last retention and recertification election in which an
employee organization was not retained and recertified as
the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit, or
of the last decertification election in which an employee
organization was decertified as the exclusive representative
of that bargaining unit. The board shall also not consider
a petition for certification as the exclusive bargaining
representative of a bargaining unit if the bargaining unit is
at that time represented by a certified exclusive bargaining
representative.
2. Retention and recertification elections.
a. The board shall conduct an election to retain and
recertify the bargaining representative of a bargaining unit
prior to the expiration of the bargaining unit’s collective
bargaining agreement. The question on the ballot shall be
whether the bargaining representative of the public employees
in the bargaining unit shall be retained and recertified as
the bargaining representative of the public employees in the
bargaining unit. For collective bargaining agreements with a
June 30 expiration date, the election shall occur between June
1 and November 1, both dates included, in the year prior to
that expiration date. For collective bargaining agreements
with a different expiration date, the election shall occur
between three hundred sixty-five and two hundred seventy days
prior to the expiration date.
b. (1) If a majority of the public employees in
the bargaining unit vote to retain and recertify the
representative, the board shall retain and recertify the
bargaining representative and the bargaining representative
shall continue to represent the public employees in the
-5-bargaining unit.
(2) If a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
unit do not vote to retain and recertify the representative,
the board, after the period for filing written objections
pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed, shall immediately
decertify the representative and the public employees shall
not be represented by an employee organization except pursuant
to the filing of a subsequent petition for certification of
an employee organization as provided in section 20.14 and an
election conducted pursuant to such petition. Such written
objections and decertifications shall be subject to applicable
administrative and judicial review.
3. Decertification elections.
a. Upon the filing of a petition for decertification of
an employee organization, the board shall submit a question
to the public employees at an election in the bargaining
unit found appropriate by the board. The question on the
ballot shall be whether the bargaining representative of the
public employees in the bargaining unit shall be decertified
as the bargaining representative of public employees in the
bargaining unit.
b. (1) If a majority of the public employees in
the bargaining unit vote to decertify the bargaining
representative, the board, after the period for filing
written objections pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed,
shall immediately decertify the representative and the public
employees shall not be represented by an employee organization
except pursuant to the filing of a subsequent petition for
certification of an employee organization as provided in
section 20.14 and an election conducted pursuant to such
petition. Such written objections and decertifications shall
be subject to applicable administrative and judicial review.
(2) If a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
unit do not vote to decertify the bargaining representative,
the bargaining representative shall continue to represent the
public employees in the bargaining unit.
c. The board shall not consider a petition for
decertification of an employee organization unless a
bargaining unit’s collective bargaining agreement exceeds
-6-two years in length. The board shall not schedule a
decertification election for a bargaining unit within one
year of a prior certification, retention and recertification,
or decertification election involving the bargaining unit.
Unless otherwise prohibited by this paragraph, the board shall
schedule a decertification election not less than one hundred
fifty days before the expiration date of the bargaining unit’s
collective bargaining agreement.
4. Invalidation of elections. Upon written objections
filed by any party to public employee, public employer, or
employee organization involved in the election within ten days
after notice of the results of the election, if the board
finds that misconduct or other circumstances prevented the
public employees eligible to vote from freely expressing their
preferences, the board may invalidate the election and hold a
second election for the public employees.
5. Results certified. Upon completion of a valid election
in which the majority choice of the public employees voting
in the bargaining unit is determined, the board shall certify
the results of the election and shall give reasonable notice
of the order to all employee organizations listed on the
ballot, the public employers, and the public employees in the
appropriate bargaining unit.
6. State agreements. a. A petition for certification as
exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall
not be considered by the board for a period of one year from
the date of the noncertification of an employee organization
as the exclusive bargaining representative of that bargaining
unit following a certification election. A petition for
certification as the exclusive bargaining representative of a
bargaining unit shall also not be considered by the board if
the bargaining unit is at that time represented by a certified
exclusive bargaining representative.
b. A petition for the decertification of the exclusive
bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall not be
considered by the board for a period of one year from the date
of its certification, or within one year of its continued
certification following a decertification election, or during
the duration of a collective bargaining agreement which, for
-7-purposes of this section, shall be deemed not to exceed two
years. However, if a petition for decertification is filed
during the duration of a collective bargaining agreement, the
board shall award an election under this section not more than
one hundred eighty days and not less than one hundred fifty
days prior to the expiration of the collective bargaining
agreement. If an employee organization is decertified, the
board may receive petitions under section 20.14, provided that
no such petition and no election conducted pursuant to such
petition within one year from decertification shall include as
a party the decertified employee organization.
c. A collective bargaining agreement with the state, its
boards, commissions, departments, and agencies shall be for
two years. and the The provisions of a collective bargaining
agreement or arbitrator’s award affecting state employees
shall not provide for renegotiations which would require the
refinancing of salary and fringe benefits subjects within the
scope of negotiations under section 20.9 for the second year
of the term of the agreement, except as provided in section
20.17, subsection 6, and the. The effective date of any such
agreement shall be July 1 of odd-numbered years, provided
that if an exclusive bargaining representative is certified
on a date which will prevent the negotiation of a collective
bargaining agreement prior to July 1 of odd-numbered years for
a period of two years, the certified collective bargaining
representative may negotiate a one-year contract with the
public employer which shall be effective from July 1 of the
even-numbered year to July 1 of the succeeding odd-numbered
year when new contracts agreements shall become effective.
Sec. 10. Section 20.17, subsection 8, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
8. a. The salaries of all public employees of the state
under a merit system and all other fringe benefits which are
granted to all subjects within the scope of negotiations
pursuant to the provisions of section 20.9 regarding public
employees of the state shall be negotiated with the governor
or the governor’s designee on a statewide basis, except those
benefits which are not subject to subjects excluded from the
scope of negotiations pursuant to the provisions of section
-8-20.9, subsection 3.
b. For the negotiation of such a proposed, statewide
collective bargaining agreement to become effective in the
year following an election described in section 39.9, a
ratification election referred to in section 20.17, subsection
4, shall not be held, and the parties shall not request
arbitration as provided in section 20.22, subsection 1, until
at least two weeks after the date of the beginning of the
term of office of the governor in that year as prescribed
in the Constitution of the State of Iowa. On or after the
beginning of the term of office of the governor in that year
as prescribed in the Constitution of the State of Iowa, the
governor shall have the authority to reject such a proposed
statewide collective bargaining agreement. If the governor
does so, the parties shall commence collective bargaining in
accordance with section 20.17. Such negotiation shall be
complete not later than March 15 of that year, unless the
parties mutually agree to a different deadline. The board
shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A providing for
alternative deadlines for the completion of the procedures
provided in sections 20.17, 20.19, 20.20, and 20.22 for
negotiation of such statewide collective bargaining agreements
in such years, which deadlines may be waived by mutual
agreement of the parties.
Sec. 11. Section 20.17, subsection 9, Code 2017, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 12. Section 20.22, subsections 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9, Code
2017, are amended to read as follows:
2. Each party shall serve its final offer on each of
the impasse items upon the other party within four days of
the board’s receipt of the request for arbitration, or by a
deadline otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The parties
may continue to negotiate all offers until an agreement
is reached or an award is rendered by the arbitrator. The
full costs of arbitration under this section shall be shared
equally by the parties to the dispute.
3. The submission of the impasse items to the arbitrator
shall be limited to those items upon which the parties have
not reached agreement. With respect to each such item, the
-9-arbitrator’s award shall be restricted to the final offers on
each impasse item submitted by the parties to the arbitrator,
except as provided in subsection 9, paragraph “b”.
7. The For an arbitration involving a bargaining unit that
has at least thirty percent of members who are public safety
employees, the arbitrator shall consider and specifically
address in the arbitrator’s determination, in addition to any
other relevant factors, the following factors:
a. Past collective bargaining contracts between the parties
including the bargaining that led up to such contracts.
b. Comparison of wages, hours and conditions of employment
of the involved public employees with those of other public
employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to
factors peculiar to the area and the classifications involved.
c. The interests and welfare of the public, the ability of
the public employer to finance economic adjustments and the
effect of such adjustments on the normal standard of services.
d. The power of the public employer to levy taxes and
appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations.
8. a. The arbitrator may administer oaths, examine
witnesses and documents, take testimony and receive evidence,
and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and
the production of records. The arbitrator may petition the
district court at the seat of government or of the county
in which the hearing is held to enforce the order of the
arbitrator compelling the attendance of witnesses and the
production of records.
b. Except as required for purposes of the consideration
of the factors specified in subsection 7, paragraphs “a”
through “c”, and subsection 7A, paragraph “a”, subparagraphs
(1) through (3), the parties shall not introduce, and
the arbitrator shall not accept or consider, any direct
or indirect evidence regarding any subject excluded from
negotiations pursuant to section 20.9.
9. a. The arbitrator shall select within fifteen
days after the hearing the most reasonable offer, in the
arbitrator’s judgment, of the final offers on each impasse
item submitted by the parties.
b. (1) However, for an arbitration involving a bargaining
-10-unit that does not have at least thirty percent of members who
are public safety employees, with respect to any increase in
base wages, the arbitrator’s award shall not exceed the lesser
of the following percentages in any one-year period in the
duration of the bargaining agreement:
(a) Three percent.
(b) A percentage equal to the increase in the consumer
price index for all urban consumers for the midwest region,
if any, as determined by the United States department of
labor, bureau of labor statistics, or a successor index. Such
percentage shall be the change in the consumer price index
for the twelve-month period beginning eighteen months prior
to the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages
was submitted to the arbitrator and ending six months prior to
the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages was
submitted to the arbitrator.
(2) To assist the parties in the preparation of their final
offers on an impasse item regarding base wages, the board
shall provide information to the parties regarding the change
in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the
midwest region for any twelve-month period. The department of
workforce development shall assist the board in preparing such
information upon request.
Sec. 13. Section 20.22, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 7A. For an arbitration involving a
bargaining unit that does not have at least thirty percent of
members who are public safety employees, the following shall
apply:
a. The arbitrator shall consider and specifically address
in the arbitrator’s determination, in addition to any other
relevant factors, the following factors:
(1) Comparison of base wages, hours, and conditions
of employment of the involved public employees with those
of other public employees doing comparable work, giving
consideration to factors peculiar to the area and the
classifications involved. To the extent adequate, applicable
data is available, the arbitrator shall also compare base
wages, hours, and conditions of employment of the involved
-11-public employees with those of private sector employees doing
comparable work, giving consideration to factors peculiar to
the area and the classifications involved.
(2) The interests and welfare of the public.
(3) The financial ability of the employer to meet the cost
of an offer in light of the current economic conditions of the
public employer. The arbitrator shall give substantial weight
to evidence that the public employer’s authority to utilize
funds is restricted to special purposes or circumstances
by state or federal law, rules, regulations, or grant
requirements.
b. The arbitrator shall not consider the following factors:
(1) Past collective bargaining agreements between the
parties or bargaining that led to such agreements.
(2) The public employer’s ability to fund an award through
the increase or imposition of new taxes, fees, or charges, or
to develop other sources of revenues.
Sec. 14. Section 20.26, unnumbered paragraph 4, Code 2017,
is amended to read as follows:
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
voluntary contributions by individuals to political parties
or candidates, provided that such contributions are not made
through payroll deductions.
Sec. 15. Section 20.29, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.29 Filing agreement — public access — internet site.
1. Collective bargaining agreements shall be in writing
and shall be signed by the parties.
2. A copy of a collective bargaining agreement entered
into between a public employer and a certified employee
organization and made final under this chapter shall be filed
with the board by the public employer within ten days of the
date on which the agreement is entered into.
3. Copies of collective bargaining agreements entered
into between the state and the state employees’ bargaining
representatives and made final under this chapter shall be
filed with the secretary of state and be made available to the
public at cost.
4. The board shall maintain an internet site that allows
-12-searchable access to a database of collective bargaining
agreements and other collective bargaining information.
Sec. 16. Section 20.30, Code 2017, is amended by striking
the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
20.30 Supervisory member — no reduction before retirement.
A supervisory member of any department or agency employed
by the state of Iowa shall not be granted a voluntary
reduction to a nonsupervisory rank or grade during the
thirty-six months preceding retirement of the member. A
member of any department or agency employed by the state
of Iowa who retires in less than thirty-six months after
voluntarily requesting and receiving a reduction in rank or
grade from a supervisory to a nonsupervisory position shall
be ineligible for a benefit to which the member is entitled as
a nonsupervisory member but is not entitled as a supervisory
member.
Sec. 17. Section 20.31, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
A mediator shall not be required to testify in any judicial,
administrative, arbitration, or grievance proceeding regarding
any matters occurring in the course of a mediation, including
any verbal or written communication or behavior, other than
facts relating exclusively to the timing or scheduling of
mediation. A mediator shall not be required to produce or
disclose any documents, including notes, memoranda, or other
work product, relating to mediation, other than documents
relating exclusively to the timing or scheduling of mediation.
This subsection shall not apply in any of the following
circumstances:
Sec. 18. NEW SECTION. 20.32 Transit employees —
applicability.
All provisions of this chapter applicable to employees
described in section 20.3, subsection 10A, shall be applicable
on the same terms and to the same degree to any transit
employee if it is determined by the director of the department
of transportation, upon written confirmation from the United
States department of labor, that a public employer would
lose federal funding under 49 U.S.C. §5333(b) if the transit
employee is not covered under certain collective bargaining
-13-rights.
Sec. 19. Section 22.7, subsection 69, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
69. The evidence of public employee support for
the certification, retention and recertification, or
decertification of an employee organization as defined in
section 20.3 that is submitted to the public employment
relations board as provided in sections section 20.14 and or
20.15.
Sec. 20. Section 22.7, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 70. Information indicating whether a
public employee voted in a certification, retention and
recertification, or decertification election held pursuant to
section 20.15 or how the employee voted on any question on a
ballot in such an election.
Sec. 21. Section 70A.17A, subsection 3, Code 2017, is
amended by striking the subsection.
Sec. 22. Section 70A.19, Code 2017, is amended by striking
the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
70A.19 Payroll deduction for employee organization dues
prohibited.
The state, a state agency, a regents institution, a board
of directors of a school district, a community college, or
an area education agency, a county board of supervisors, a
governing body of a city, or any other public employer as
defined in section 20.3 shall not authorize or administer a
deduction from the salaries or wages of its employees for
membership dues to an employee organization as defined in
section 20.3.
Sec. 23. Section 412.2, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
1. From the proceeds of the assessments on the wages
and salaries of employees, of any such waterworks system,
or other municipally owned and operated public utility,
eligible to receive the benefits thereof. Notwithstanding any
provisions of section 20.9 to the contrary, a council, board
of waterworks, or other board or commission which establishes
a pension and annuity retirement system pursuant to this
-14-chapter, shall negotiate in good faith with a certified
employee organization as defined in section 20.3, which is
the collective bargaining representative of the employees,
with respect to the amount or rate of the assessment on the
wages and salaries of employees and the method or methods for
payment of the assessment by the employees.
Sec. 24. Section 602.1401, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
b. For purposes of chapter 20, the certified
representative, which on July 1, 1983, represents employees
who become judicial branch employees as a result of 1983 Iowa
Acts, ch.186, shall remain the certified representative when
the employees become judicial branch employees and thereafter,
unless the public employee organization is not retained
and recertified or is decertified in an election held under
section 20.15 or amended or absorbed into another certified
organization pursuant to chapter 20. Collective bargaining
negotiations shall be conducted on a statewide basis and the
certified employee organizations which engage in bargaining
shall negotiate on a statewide basis, although bargaining
units shall be organized by judicial district. The public
employment relations board shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 17A to implement this subsection.
Sec. 25. TRANSITION PROCEDURES — EMERGENCY RULES.
1. As of the effective date of this division of this Act,
parties, mediators, and arbitrators engaging in any collective
bargaining procedures provided for in chapter 20, Code 2017,
who have not, before the effective date of this division
of this Act, completed such procedures, shall immediately
terminate any such procedures in process. A collective
bargaining agreement negotiated pursuant to such procedures in
process shall not become effective. Parties, mediators, and
arbitrators shall not engage in further collective bargaining
procedures except as provided in this section. Such parties,
on or after the effective date of this division of this Act,
may commence collective bargaining in accordance with section
20.17, as amended in this division of this Act. If such
parties include a state public employer and a state employee
organization, negotiation of a proposed collective bargaining
-15-agreement to become effective during the remainder of calendar
year 2017 shall be complete not later than March 15, 2017,
unless the parties mutually agree to a different deadline.
If such parties include public employees represented by a
certified employee organization who are employed by a public
employer which is a school district, area education agency,
or community college, negotiation of a proposed collective
bargaining agreement to become effective during the remainder
of calendar year 2017 shall be complete not later than June
30, 2017, unless the parties mutually agree to a different
deadline.
2. The public employment relations board shall adopt
emergency rules under section 17A.4, subsection 3, and
section 17A.5, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, to provide for
procedures as deemed necessary to implement the provisions
of this section and the rules shall be effective immediately
upon filing unless a later date is specified in the rules.
Such rules shall include but are not limited to alternative
deadlines for completion of the procedures provided in
sections 20.17 and 20.22, as amended by this division of this
Act, and sections 20.19 and 20.20, which deadlines may be
waived by mutual agreement of the parties.
Sec. 26. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 27. APPLICABILITY.
1. With the exception of the section of this division of
this Act amending section 20.6, subsection 1, this division of
this Act does not apply to collective bargaining agreements
which have been ratified in a ratification election referred
to in section 20.17, subsection 4, for which an arbitrator
has made a final determination as described in section 20.22,
subsection 11, or which have become effective, where such
events occurred before the effective date of this division of
this Act. This division of this Act applies to all collective
bargaining procedures provided for in chapter 20 occurring
on and after the effective date of this division of this Act
and collective bargaining agreements for which a ratification
election referred to in section 20.17, subsection 4, is
-16-held, for which an arbitrator makes a final determination as
described in section 20.22, subsection 11, or which, unless
otherwise provided in this section, become effective on or
after the effective date of this division of this Act.
2. The provision of this division of this Act amending
section 70A.19 does not apply to dues deductions required by
collective bargaining agreements which have been ratified in a
ratification election referred to in section 20.17, subsection
4, for which an arbitrator has made a final determination
as described in section 20.22, subsection 11, or which have
become effective, where such events occurred before the
effective date of this division of this Act.
3. Section 20.15, subsection 2, as enacted by this
division of this Act, does not apply to collective bargaining
agreements with expiration dates occurring before April 1,
2018.
DIVISION II
EDUCATOR employment matters
Sec. 28. Section 279.13, subsections 2 and 5, Code 2017,
are amended to read as follows:
2. The contract shall remain in force and effect for the
period stated in the contract and shall be automatically
continued for equivalent periods except as modified or
terminated by mutual agreement of the board of directors and
the teacher or as modified or terminated in accordance with
the provisions specified in this chapter. A contract shall
not be offered by the employing board to a teacher under its
jurisdiction prior to March 15 of any year. A teacher who has
not accepted a contract for the ensuing school year tendered
by the employing board may resign effective at the end of the
current school year by filing a written resignation with the
secretary of the board. The resignation must be filed not
later than the last day of the current school year or the date
specified by the employing board for return of the contract,
whichever date occurs first. However, a teacher shall not be
required to return a contract to the board or to resign less
than twenty-one days after the contract has been offered.
5. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
a temporary contract may be issued to a teacher for a period
-17-of up to six months. Notwithstanding the other provisions
of this section, a temporary contract may also be issued to
a teacher to fill a vacancy created by a leave of absence
in accordance with the provisions of section 29A.28, which
contract shall automatically terminate upon return from
military leave of the former incumbent of the teaching
position and which contract. Temporary contracts shall not be
subject to the provisions of sections 279.15 through 279.19,
or section 279.27. A separate extracurricular contract issued
pursuant to section 279.19A to a person issued a temporary
contract under this section shall automatically terminate with
the termination of the temporary contract as required under
section 279.19A, subsection 8.
Sec. 29. Section 279.13, subsection 4, unnumbered
paragraph 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
For purposes of this section, sections 279.14, 279.15
through 279.17, 279.16, 279.19, and 279.27, unless the
context otherwise requires, “teacher” includes the following
individuals employed by a community college:
Sec. 30. Section 279.14, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.14 Evaluation criteria and procedures.
1. The board shall establish evaluation criteria and shall
implement evaluation procedures. If an exclusive bargaining
representative has been certified, the board shall negotiate
in good faith with respect to evaluation procedures pursuant
to chapter 20.
2. The determination of standards of performance expected
of school district personnel shall be reserved as an exclusive
management right of the school board and shall not be subject
to mandatory negotiations under chapter 20. Notwithstanding
chapter 20, objections Objections to the procedures, use, or
content of an evaluation in a teacher termination proceeding
brought before the school board in a hearing held in
accordance with section 279.16 or 279.27 shall not be subject
to the any grievance procedures negotiated in accordance
with chapter 20. A school district shall not be obligated to
process any evaluation grievance after service of a notice
and recommendation to terminate an individual’s continuing
-18-teaching contract in accordance with this chapter.
Sec. 31. Section 279.15, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
c. Within five days of the receipt of the written notice
that the superintendent is recommending termination of the
contract, the teacher may request, in writing to the secretary
of the board, a private hearing with the board. The private
hearing shall not be subject to chapter 21 and shall be held
no sooner than ten twenty days and no later than twenty forty
days following the receipt of the request unless the parties
otherwise agree. The secretary of the board shall notify
the teacher in writing of the date, time, and location of
the private hearing, and at least five ten days before the
hearing shall also furnish to the teacher any documentation
which may be presented to the board at the private hearing and
a list of persons who may address the board in support of the
superintendent’s recommendation at the private hearing. At
least three seven days before the hearing, the teacher shall
provide any documentation the teacher expects to present at
the private hearing, along with the names of any persons who
may address the board on behalf of the teacher. This exchange
of information shall be at the time specified unless otherwise
agreed.
Sec. 32. Section 279.16, subsections 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10, Code 2017, are amended to read as follows:
1. The participants at the private hearing shall be
at least a majority of the members of the board, and their
legal representatives, if any, the and the witnesses for the
parties. The superintendent, the superintendent’s designated
representatives, if any, the teacher’s immediate supervisor,
the teacher, and the teacher’s representatives, if any, and
the witnesses for the parties may participate in the hearing
as well. The evidence at the private hearing shall be
limited to the specific reasons stated in the superintendent’s
notice of recommendation of termination. No A participant
in the hearing shall not be liable for any damages to any
person if any statement at the hearing is determined to be
erroneous as long as the statement was made in good faith.
The superintendent shall present evidence and argument
-19-on all issues involved and the teacher may cross-examine,
respond, and present evidence and argument in the teacher’s
behalf relevant to all issues involved. Evidence may be by
stipulation of the parties and informal settlement may be
made by stipulation, consent, or default or by any other
method agreed upon by the parties in writing. The board shall
employ a certified shorthand reporter to keep a record of the
private hearing. The proceedings or any part thereof shall be
transcribed at the request of either party with the expense of
transcription charged to the requesting party.
2. The presiding officer of the board may administer oaths
in the same manner and with like effect and under the same
penalties as in the case of magistrates exercising criminal
or civil jurisdiction. The board shall cause subpoenas to be
issued for such witnesses and the production of such books
and papers as either the board or the teacher may designate.
The subpoenas shall be signed by the presiding officer of the
board.
6. If the teacher fails to timely request a private hearing
or does not appear at the private hearing, the board may
proceed and make a determination upon the superintendent’s
recommendation. If the teacher fails to timely file a request
for a private hearing, the determination shall be not later
than May 31. If the teacher fails to appear at the private
hearing, the determination shall be not later than five days
after the scheduled date for the private hearing. The board
shall convene in open session and by roll call vote determine
the termination or continuance of the teacher’s contract
and, if the board votes to continue the teacher’s contract,
whether to suspend the teacher with or without pay for a
period specified by the board or issue the teacher a one-year,
nonrenewable contract.
7. Within five days after the private hearing, the board
shall, in executive session, meet to make a final decision
upon the recommendation and the evidence as herein provided.
The board shall also consider any written brief and arguments
submitted by the superintendent and the teacher.
8. a. The record for a private hearing shall include:
a. (1) All pleadings, motions, and intermediate rulings.
-20- b. (2) All evidence received or considered and all other
submissions.
c. (3) A statement of all matters officially noticed.
d. (4) All questions and offers of proof, objections, and
rulings thereon.
e. (5) All findings and exceptions.
f. (6) Any decision, opinion, or conclusion by the board.
g. Findings of fact
b. The decision of the boardshall be based solely on the
evidence in the record and on matters officially noticed in
the record.
9. The decision of the board shall be in writing and shall
include findings of fact and conclusions of law, separately
stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in statutory language,
shall be accompanied by a concise and explicit statement
of the underlying facts and supporting the findings. Each
conclusion of law shall be supported by cited authority or by
reasoned opinion.
10. When the board has reached a decision, opinion, or
conclusion, it shall convene in open meeting and by roll
call vote determine the continuance or discontinuance of the
teacher’s contract and, if the board votes to continue the
teacher’s contract, whether to suspend the teacher with or
without pay for a period specified by the board or issue the
teacher a one-year, nonrenewable contract. The record of the
private conference hearing and findings of fact and exceptions
written decision of the board shall be exempt from the
provisions of chapter 22. The secretary of the board shall
immediately mail notice of the board’s action to the teacher.
Sec. 33. Section 279.16, subsections 3 and 5, Code 2017,
are amended by striking the subsections.
Sec. 34. Section 279.18, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.18 Appeal by either party teacher to court.
1. If either party a teacher rejects the adjudicator’s
board’s decision, the rejecting party teacher shall, within
thirty days of the initial filing of such decision, appeal to
the district court of the county in which the administrative
office of the school district is located. The notice of
-21-appeal shall be immediately mailed by certified mail to the
other party board. The adjudicator secretary of the board
shall transmit to the reviewing court the original or a
certified copy of the entire record which may be the subject
of the petition. By stipulation of all parties to the review
proceedings, the record of such a case may be shortened. A
party unreasonably refusing to stipulate to limit the record
may be taxed by the court for the additional cost. The court
may require or permit subsequent corrections or additions to
the shortened record.
2. In proceedings for judicial review of the adjudicator’s
board’s decision, the court shall not hear any further
evidence but shall hear the case upon the certified record.
In such judicial review, especially when considering the
credibility of witnesses, the court shall give weight to
the fact findings decision of the board;, but shall not be
bound by them it. The court may affirm the adjudicator’s
board’s decision or remand to the adjudicator or the board
for further proceedings upon conditions determined by the
court. The court shall reverse, modify, or grant any other
appropriate equitable or legal relief from the board decision,
or the adjudicator’s decision equitable or legal and including
declaratory relief, if substantial rights of the petitioner
have been prejudiced because the action is any of the
following:
a. In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
or.
b. In excess of the statutory authority of the board or the
adjudicator; or.
c. In violation of a board rule or policy or contract; or.
d. Made upon unlawful procedure; or.
e. Affected by other error of law; or.
f. Unsupported by a preponderance of the competent evidence
in the record made before the board and the adjudicator when
that record is viewed as a whole; or.
g. Unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious or characterized
by an abuse of discretion or a clearly unwarranted exercise of
discretion.
3. An aggrieved or adversely affected party to the judicial
-22-review proceeding may obtain a review of any final judgment of
the district court by appeal to the supreme court. The appeal
shall be taken as in other civil cases, although the appeal
may be taken regardless of the amount involved.
4. For purposes of this section, unless the context
otherwise requires, “rejecting party” “teacher” shall include,
but not be limited to, an instructor employed by a community
college.
Sec. 35. Section 279.19, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.19 Probationary period.
1. The first three consecutive years of employment of
a teacher in the same school district are a probationary
period. However, if the teacher has successfully completed a
probationary period of employment for another school district
located in Iowa, the probationary period in the current
district of employment shall not exceed one year two years.
A board of directors may waive the probationary period for
any teacher who previously has served a probationary period
in another school district and the board may extend the
probationary period for an additional year with the consent
of the teacher.
2. In the case of the termination of a probationary
teacher’s contract, the contract may be terminated by the
board of directors effective at the end of a school year
without cause. The superintendent or the superintendent’s
designee shall notify the teacher not later than April 30 that
the board has voted to terminate the contract effective at
the end of the school year. The notice shall be in writing
by letter, personally delivered, or mailed by certified
mail. The notification shall be complete when received by
the teacher. Within ten days after receiving the notice,
the teacher may request a private conference with the school
board to discuss the reasons for termination. The provisions
of sections 279.15 and 279.16 shall not apply to such a
termination. However, if the probationary teacher is a
beginning teacher who fails to demonstrate competence in the
Iowa teaching standards in accordance with chapter 284, the
provisions of sections 279.17 and 279.18 shall also apply.
-23- 3. The board’s decision shall be final and binding unless
the termination was based upon an alleged violation of a
constitutionally guaranteed right of the teacher or an alleged
violation of public employee rights of the teacher under
section 20.10.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the
grievance procedures of section 20.18 relating to job
performance or job retention shall not apply to a teacher
during the first two years of the teacher’s probationary
period. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a teacher
who has successfully completed a probationary period in a
school district in Iowa.
Sec. 36. Section 279.19A, subsections 1, 2, 7, and 8, Code
2017, are amended to read as follows:
1. School districts employing individuals to coach
interscholastic athletic sports shall issue a separate
extracurricular contract for each of these sports. An
extracurricular contract offered under this section shall be
separate from the contract issued under section 279.13. Wages
for employees who coach these sports shall be paid pursuant
to established or negotiated supplemental pay schedules.
An extracurricular contract shall be in writing, and shall
state the number of contract days for that sport, the annual
compensation to be paid, and any other matters as may be
mutually agreed upon. The contract shall be for a single
school year.
2. a. An extracurricular contract shall be continued
automatically in force and effect for equivalent periods,
except as modified or terminated by mutual agreement of
the board of directors and the employee, or terminated in
accordance with this section. An extracurricular contract
shall initially be offered by the employing board to an
individual on the same date that contracts are offered to
teachers under section 279.13. An extracurricular contract
may be terminated at the end of a school year pursuant to
sections 279.15 through 279.19. If the school district offers
an extracurricular contract for a sport for the subsequent
school year to an employee who is currently performing
under an extracurricular contract for that sport, and the
-24-employee does not wish to accept the extracurricular contract
for the subsequent year, the employee may resign from the
extracurricular contract within twenty-one days after it has
been received.
b. Section 279.13, subsection 3, applies to this section.
If the provisions of an extracurricular contract executed
under this section conflict with a collective bargaining
agreement negotiated under chapter 20 and effective when
the extracurricular contract is executed or renewed, the
provisions of the collective bargaining agreement shall
prevail.
7. An extracurricular contract may be terminated prior to
the expiration of that contract pursuant to section 279.27
for any lawful reason following an informal, private hearing
before the board of directors. The decision of the board to
terminate an extracurricular contract shall be final.
8. a. A termination proceeding of regarding an
extracurricular contract either by the board pursuant to
subsection 2 or pursuant to section 279.27 does shall not
affect a contract issued pursuant to section 279.13.
b. A termination of a contract entered into pursuant to
section 279.13, or a resignation from that contract by the
teacher, constitutes an automatic termination or resignation
of the extracurricular contract in effect between the same
teacher and the employing school board.
Sec. 37. Section 279.23, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
c. The rate of compensation per week of five consecutive
days or month of four consecutive weeks.
Sec. 38. Section 279.23, subsection 5, Code 2017, is
amended to read as follows:
5. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
a temporary contract may be issued to an administrator for
up to nine months. Notwithstanding the other provisions of
this section, a temporary contract may also be issued to an
administrator to fill a vacancy created by a leave of absence
in accordance with the provisions of section 29A.28, which
contract shall automatically terminate upon return from
military leave of the former incumbent of the administrator
-25-position and which contract. Temporary contracts shall not be
subject to the provisions of sections 279.24 and 279.25.
Sec. 39. Section 279.24, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2017,
are amended to read as follows:
2. If the board of directors is considering termination
of an administrator’s contract, prior to any formal action,
the board may arrange to meet in closed session, in accordance
with the provisions of section 21.5, with the administrator
and the administrator’s representative. The board shall
review the administrator’s evaluation, review the reasons
for nonrenewal, and give the administrator an opportunity
to respond. If, following the closed session, the board
of directors and the administrator are unable to mutually
agree to a modification or termination of the administrator’s
contract, or the board of directors and the administrator are
unable to mutually agree to enter into may issue a one-year
nonrenewable contract, to the administrator. If the board of
directors decides to terminate the administrator’s contract,
the board shall follow the procedures in this section.
4. Administrators employed in a school district for
less than two three consecutive years are probationary
administrators. However, a school board may waive the
probationary period for any administrator who has previously
served a probationary period in another school district
and the school board may extend the probationary period for
an additional year with the consent of the administrator.
If a school board determines that it should terminate a
probationary administrator’s contract, the school board
shall notify the administrator not later than May 15 that the
contract will not be renewed beyond the current year. The
notice shall be in writing by letter, personally delivered, or
mailed by certified mail. The notification shall be complete
when received by the administrator. Within ten days after
receiving the notice, the administrator may request a private
conference with the school board to discuss the reasons for
termination. The school board’s decision to terminate a
probationary administrator’s contract shall be final unless
the termination was based upon an alleged violation of a
constitutionally guaranteed right of the administrator.
-26- Sec. 40. Section 279.24, subsection 5, paragraphs c, d, e,
f, g, and h, Code 2017, are amended to read as follows:
c. Within five days after receipt of the written notice
that the school board has voted to consider termination of
the contract, the administrator may request a private hearing
in writing to the secretary of the school board that. The
board shall then forward the notification be forwarded to
the board of educational examiners along with a request that
the board of educational examiners submit a list of five
qualified administrative law judges to the parties. Within
three days from receipt of the list the parties shall select
an administrative law judge by alternately removing a name
from the list until only one name remains. The person whose
name remains shall be the administrative law judge. The
parties shall determine by lot which party shall remove the
first name from the list. The private hearing shall be held
no sooner than ten twenty days and not later than thirty forty
days following the administrator’s request unless the parties
otherwise agree. If the administrator does not request a
private hearing, the school board, not later than May 31, may
determine the continuance or discontinuance of the contract
and, if the board determines to continue the administrator’s
contract, whether to suspend the administrator with or without
pay for a period specified by the board. School board action
shall be by majority roll call vote entered on the minutes
of the meeting. Notice of school board action shall be
personally delivered or mailed to the administrator.
d. The administrative law judge selected shall notify
the secretary of the school board and the administrator in
writing concerning the date, time, and location of the private
hearing. The school board may be represented by a legal
representative, if any, and the administrator shall appear and
may be represented by counsel or by representative, if any.
Any witnesses for the parties at the private hearing shall be
sequestered. A transcript or recording shall be made of the
proceedings at the private hearing. A school board member or
administrator is not liable for any damage to an administrator
or school board member if a statement made at the private
hearing is determined to be erroneous as long as the statement
-27-was made in good faith.
e. The administrative law judge shall, within ten days
following the date of the private hearing, make a proposed
decision as to whether or not the administrator should be
dismissed, and shall give a copy of the proposed decision
to the administrator and the school board. Findings of
fact shall be prepared by the administrative law judge. The
proposed decision of the administrative law judge shall become
the final decision of the school board unless within ten
thirty days after the filing of the decision the administrator
files a written notice of appeal with the school board, or
the school board on its own motion determines to review the
decision.
f. If the administrator appeals to the school board, or
if the school board determines on its own motion to review
the proposed decision of the administrative law judge, a
private hearing shall be held before the school board within
five ten days after the petition for review, or motion for
review, has been made or at such other time as the parties
agree. The private hearing is not subject to chapter 21.
The school board may hear the case de novo upon the record
as submitted before the administrative law judge. In cases
where there is an appeal from a proposed decision or where
a proposed decision is reviewed on motion of the school
board, an opportunity shall be afforded to each party to file
exceptions, present briefs, and present oral arguments to
the school board which is to render the final decision. The
secretary of the school board shall give the administrator
written notice of the time, place, and date of the private
hearing. The school board shall meet within five days after
the private hearing to determine the question of continuance
or discontinuance of the contract and, if the board determines
to continue the administrator’s contract, whether to
suspend the administrator with or without pay for a period
specified by the board or issue the administrator a one-year,
nonrenewable contract. The school board shall make findings
of fact which shall be based solely on the evidence in the
record and on matters officially noticed in the record.
g. The decision of the school board shall be in writing
-28-and shall include findings of fact and conclusions of
law, separately stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in
statutory language, shall be accompanied by a concise and
explicit statement of the underlying facts supporting the
findings. Each conclusion of law shall be supported by cited
authority or by reasoned opinion.
h. When the school board has reached a decision, opinion,
or conclusion, it shall convene in open meeting and by roll
call vote determine the continuance or discontinuance of
the administrator’s contract and, if the board votes to
continue the administrator’s contract, whether to suspend the
administrator with or without pay for a period specified by
the board or issue the administrator a one-year, nonrenewable
contract. The record of the private conference hearing
and findings of fact and exceptions written decision of the
board shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 22. The
secretary of the school board shall immediately personally
deliver or mail notice of the school board’s action to the
administrator.
Sec. 41. Section 279.27, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.27 Discharge of teacher.
1. A teacher may be discharged at any time during
the contract year for just cause. The superintendent or
the superintendent’s designee, shall notify the teacher
immediately that the superintendent will recommend in writing
to the board at a regular or special meeting of the board
held not more than fifteen days after notification has been
given to the teacher that the teacher’s continuing contract be
terminated effective immediately following a decision of the
board. The procedure for dismissal shall be as provided in
section 279.15, subsection 2, and sections 279.16 to through
279.19. The superintendent may suspend a teacher under this
section pending hearing and determination by the board.
2. For purposes of this section, “just cause” includes
but is not limited to a violation of the code of professional
conduct and ethics of the board of educational examiners if
the board has taken disciplinary action against a teacher,
during the six months following issuance by the board
-29-of a final written decision and finding of fact after a
disciplinary proceeding.
Sec. 42. Section 284.3, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
2. A school board shall provide for the following:
a. For purposes of comprehensive evaluations, standards
and criteria which measure a beginning teacher’s performance
against the Iowa teaching standards specified in subsection
1, and the criteria for the Iowa teaching standards
developed by the department in accordance with section
256.9, to determine whether the teacher’s practice meets the
requirements specified for a career teacher. These standards
and criteria shall be set forth in an instrument provided by
the department. The comprehensive evaluation and instrument
are not subject to negotiations or grievance procedures
pursuant to chapter 20 or determinations made by the board
of directors under section 279.14. A local school board
and its certified bargaining representative may negotiate,
pursuant to chapter 20, evaluation and grievance procedures
for beginning teachers that are not in conflict with this
chapter. If, in accordance with section 279.19, a beginning
teacher appeals the determination of a school board to an
adjudicator under section 279.17, the adjudicator selected
shall have successfully completed training related to the
Iowa teacher standards, the criteria adopted by the state
board in accordance with subsection 3, and any additional
training required under rules adopted by the public employment
relations board in cooperation with the state board.
b. For purposes of performance reviews for teachers other
than beginning teachers, evaluations that contain, at a
minimum, the Iowa teaching standards specified in subsection
1, as well as the criteria for the Iowa teaching standards
developed by the department in accordance with section
256.9, subsection 42. A local school board and its certified
bargaining representative may negotiate, pursuant to chapter
20, additional teaching standards and criteria. A local
school board and its certified bargaining representative shall
negotiate, pursuant to chapter 20, evaluation and grievance
procedures for teachers other than beginning teachers that are
-30-not in conflict with this chapter.
Sec. 43. Section 284.4, subsection 1, paragraph c,
subparagraphs (2) and (5), Code 2017, are amended to read as
follows:
(2) Monitor the evaluation requirements of this chapter
to ensure evaluations are conducted in a fair and consistent
manner throughout the school district or agency. In addition
to any negotiated evaluation procedures, The committee
shall develop model evidence for the Iowa teaching standards
and criteria. The model evidence will minimize paperwork
and focus on teacher improvement. The model evidence will
determine which standards and criteria can be met with
observation and which evidence meets multiple standards and
criteria.
(5) Ensure the agreement negotiated pursuant to chapter
20 determines Determine the compensation for teachers on the
committee for work responsibilities required beyond the normal
work day.
Sec. 44. Section 284.8, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2017, are
amended to read as follows:
2. If a supervisor or an evaluator determines, at any
time, as a result of a teacher’s performance that the teacher
is not meeting district expectations under the Iowa teaching
standards specified in section 284.3, subsection 1, paragraphs
“a” through “h”, and the criteria for the Iowa teaching
standards developed by the department in accordance with
section 256.9, subsection 42, and any other standards or
criteria established in the collective bargaining agreement,
the evaluator shall, at the direction of the teacher’s
supervisor, recommend to the district that the teacher
participate in an intensive assistance program. The intensive
assistance program and its implementation are not subject to
negotiation and grievance procedures established pursuant to
chapter 20. All school districts shall be prepared to offer
an intensive assistance program.
4. A teacher who is not meeting the applicable standards
and criteria based on a determination made pursuant to
subsection 2 shall participate in an intensive assistance
program. However, a teacher who has previously participated
-31-in an intensive assistance program relating to particular
Iowa teaching standards or criteria shall not be entitled to
participate in another intensive assistance program relating
to the same standards or criteria and shall be subject to the
provisions of subsection 5.
Sec. 45. Section 284.8, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 46. Section 284.8, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 5. Following a teacher’s participation
in an intensive assistance program, the teacher shall be
reevaluated to determine whether the teacher successfully
completed the intensive assistance program and is meeting
district expectations under the applicable Iowa teaching
standards or criteria. If the teacher did not successfully
complete the intensive assistance program or continues not to
meet the applicable Iowa teaching standards or criteria, the
board may do any of the following:
a. Terminate the teacher’s contract immediately pursuant
to section 279.27.
b. Terminate the teacher’s contract at the end of the
school year pursuant to section 279.15.
c. Continue the teacher’s contract for a period not to
exceed one year. However, the contract shall not be renewed
and shall not be subject to section 279.15.
Sec. 47. REPEAL. Section 279.17, Code 2017, is repealed.
Sec. 48. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 49. APPLICABILITY. This division of this Act applies
to employment contracts of school employees entered into
pursuant to chapter 279 on and after the effective date of
this division of this Act. This division of this Act does
not apply to collective bargaining agreements pursuant to
chapter 20 which have been ratified in a ratification election
referred to in section 20.17, subsection 4, for which an
arbitrator has made a final determination as described in
section 20.22, subsection 11, or which have become effective,
where such events occurred before the effective date of this
-32-division of this Act. This division of this Act applies to
all collective bargaining procedures provided for in chapter
20 occurring on and after the effective date of this division
of this Act and collective bargaining agreements pursuant to
chapter 20 for which a ratification election referred to in
section 20.17, subsection 4, is held, for which an arbitrator
makes a final determination as described in section 20.22,
subsection 11, or which, unless otherwise provided in this
section, become effective on or after the effective date of
this division of this Act.
DIVISION III
personnel records and settlement agreements
Sec. 50. Section 22.7, subsection 11, paragraph a,
subparagraph (5), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
(5) The fact that the individual resigned in lieu of
termination, was discharged, or was demoted as the result
of a final disciplinary action upon the exhaustion of all
applicable contractual, legal, and statutory remedies, and the
documented reasons and rationale for the resignation in lieu
of termination, the discharge, or the demotion. For purposes
of this subparagraph, “demoted” and “demotion” mean a change
of an employee from a position in a given classification to a
position in a classification having a lower pay grade.
Sec. 51. NEW SECTION. 22.13A Personnel settlement
agreements — state employees — confidentiality — disclosure.
1. For purposes of this section:
a. “Personnel settlement agreement” means a binding legal
agreement between a state employee and the state employee’s
employer, subject to section 22.13, to resolve a personnel
dispute including but not limited to a grievance. “Personnel
settlement agreement” does not include an initial decision by
a state employee’s employer concerning a personnel dispute or
grievance.
b. “State employee” means an employee of the state who is
an employee of the executive branch as described in sections
7E.2 and 7E.5.
2. Personnel settlement agreements shall not contain any
confidentiality or nondisclosure provision that attempts to
prevent the disclosure of the personnel settlement agreement.
-33-In addition, any confidentiality or nondisclosure provision in
a personnel settlement agreement is void and unenforceable.
3. The requirements of this section shall not be superseded
by any provision of a collective bargaining agreement.
4. All personnel settlement agreements shall be made
easily accessible to the public on an internet site maintained
as follows:
a. For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of
the executive branch, excluding an employee of the state board
of regents or institution under the control of the state board
of regents, by the department of administrative services.
b. For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of
the state board of regents or institution under the control of
the state board of regents, by the state board of regents.
5. a. A state agency shall not enter into a personnel
settlement agreement with a state employee on behalf of the
state unless the personnel settlement agreement is first
reviewed by the attorney general or the attorney general’s
designee. Additionally, a state agency shall not enter into a
personnel settlement agreement with a state employee on behalf
of the state unless the agreement has been approved in writing
by the following individuals:
(1) For a state agency other than an institution governed
by the board of regents, the director of the department of
management, the director of the department of administrative
services, and the head of the state agency.
(2) For an institution governed by the board of regents,
the executive director of the board of regents and the head of
the institution.
b. If subparagraph (1) or (2) is not consistent with the
provision of a collective bargaining agreement, a state agency
shall provide the individuals referenced in this subsection,
as applicable, with regular reports regarding any personnel
settlement agreements entered into with state employees by the
state agency.
Sec. 52. NEW SECTION. 22.15 Personnel records —
discipline — employee notification.
A government body that takes disciplinary action against an
employee that may result in information described in section
-34-22.7, subsection 11, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5), being
placed in the employee’s personnel record, prior to taking
such disciplinary action, shall notify the employee in writing
that the information placed in the employee’s personnel file
as a result of the disciplinary action may become a public
record.
Sec. 53. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 54. APPLICABILITY. The section of this division of
this Act amending section 22.7, subsection 11, applies to
all information described in section 22.7, subsection 11,
paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5), as amended by this division
of this Act, relating to information placed in an individual’s
personnel records on or after the effective date of this
division of this Act.
DIVISION IV
CITY CIVIL SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 55. Section 400.12, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.12 Seniority — extinguishment — reestablishment.
1. For the purpose of determining the seniority rights
of civil service employees, seniority shall be computed,
beginning with the date of appointment to or employment in any
positions for which they were certified or otherwise qualified
and established as provided in this chapter, but shall not
include any period of time exceeding sixty days in any one
year during which they were absent from the service except for
disability.
2. In the event that a civil service employee has more
than one classification or grade, the length of the employee’s
seniority rights shall date in the respective classifications
or grades from and after the time the employee was appointed
to or began employment in each classification or grade.
In the event that an employee has been promoted from one
classification or grade to another, the employee’s civil
service seniority rights shall be continuous in any department
grade or classification that the employee formerly held.
3. A list of all civil service employees shall be prepared
-35-and posted in the city hall by the civil service commission on
or before July 1 of each year, indicating the civil service
standing of each employee as to the employee’s seniority.
4. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining
agreement, a city council may extinguish the seniority rights,
including but not limited to seniority accrued, provided
pursuant to this section to all civil service employees who
are not employed or appointed as a fire fighter or police
officer, fire chief or police chief, or assistant fire chief
or assistant police chief. A city council may subsequently
reestablish seniority rights extinguished pursuant to this
section for all employees who are not employed or appointed as
a fire fighter or police officer, fire chief or police chief,
or assistant fire chief or assistant police chief. Seniority
rights reestablished in this way may include, but are not
required to include, accrual of seniority for employment prior
to the reestablishment of such rights.
Sec. 56. Section 400.17, subsection 4, Code 2017, is
amended to read as follows:
4. A person shall not be appointed, denied appointment,
promoted, removed, discharged, suspended, or demoted to or
from a civil service position or in any other way favored or
discriminated against in that position because of political
or religious opinions or affiliations, race, national origin,
sex, or age, or in retaliation for the exercise of any right
enumerated in this chapter. However, the maximum age for a
police officer or fire fighter covered by this chapter and
employed for police duty or the duty of fighting fires is
sixty-five years of age.
Sec. 57. Section 400.18, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.18 Removal, discharge, demotion, or suspension.
1. A person holding civil service rights as provided in
this chapter shall not be removed, discharged, demoted, or
suspended arbitrarily, except as otherwise provided in this
chapter, but may be removed, discharged, demoted, or suspended
after a hearing by a majority vote of the civil service
commission, for neglect of duty, disobedience, misconduct, or
failure to properly perform the person’s duties due to any act
-36-or failure to act by the employee that is in contravention of
law, city policies, or standard operating procedures, or that
in the judgment of the person having the appointing power as
provided in this chapter, or the chief of police or chief of
the fire department, is sufficient to show that the employee
is unsuitable or unfit for employment.
2. An employee who is removed, discharged, demoted, or
suspended may request a hearing before the civil service
commission to review the appointing authority’s, police
chief’s, or fire chief’s decision to remove, discharge,
demote, or suspend the employee.
2. 3. The party alleging neglect of duty, disobedience,
misconduct, or failure to properly perform a duty city
shall have the burden of proof to prove that the act or
failure to act by the employee was in contravention of
law, city policies, or standard operating procedures, or is
sufficient to show that the employee is unsuitable or unfit
for employment.
3. 4. A person subject to a hearing has the right to
be represented by counsel at the person’s expense or by the
person’s authorized collective bargaining representative.
5. A collective bargaining agreement to which a bargaining
unit that has at least thirty percent of members who are
public safety employees as defined in section 20.3 is a party
shall provide additional procedures not inconsistent with this
section for the implementation of this section.
Sec. 58. Section 400.19, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.19 Removal, or discharge, demotion, or suspension of
subordinates.
The person having the appointing power as provided in
this chapter, or the chief of police or chief of the fire
department, may, upon presentation of grounds for such action
to the subordinate in writing, peremptorily remove, discharge,
demote, or suspend, demote, or discharge a subordinate then
under the person’s or chief’s direction for neglect of duty,
disobedience of orders, misconduct, or failure to properly
perform the subordinate’s duties due to any act or failure
to act by the employee that is in contravention of law, city
-37-policies, or standard operating procedures, or that in the
judgment of the person or chief is sufficient to show that the
employee is unsuitable or unfit for employment.
Sec. 59. Section 400.20, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.20 Appeal.
The suspension removal, discharge, demotion, or discharge
suspension of a person holding civil service rights may be
appealed to the civil service commission within fourteen
calendar days after the suspension removal, discharge,
demotion, or discharge suspension.
Sec. 60. Section 400.21, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.21 Notice of appeal.
If the appeal be taken by the person suspended removed,
discharged, demoted, or discharged suspended, notice thereof,
signed by the appellant and specifying the ruling appealed
from, shall be filed with the clerk of commission; if by the
person making such suspension removal, discharge, demotion,
or discharge suspension, such notice shall also be served
upon the person suspended removed, discharged, demoted, or
discharged suspended.
Sec. 61. Section 400.22, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.22 Charges.
Within fourteen calendar days from the service of the
notice of appeal, the person or body making the ruling
appealed from shall file with the body to which the appeal is
taken a written specification of the charges and grounds upon
which the ruling was based. If the charges are not filed, the
person suspended or removed, discharged, demoted, or suspended
may present the matter to the body to whom the appeal is to
be taken by affidavit, setting forth the facts, and the body
to whom the appeal is to be taken shall immediately enter an
order reinstating the person suspended or removed, discharged,
demoted, or suspended for want of prosecution.
Sec. 62. Section 400.27, unnumbered paragraph 3, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
The city or any civil service employee shall have a right to
-38-appeal to the district court from the final ruling or decision
of the civil service commission. The appeal shall be taken
within thirty days from the filing of the formal decision of
the commission. The district court of the county in which the
city is located shall have full jurisdiction of the appeal
and the said appeal shall be a trial de novo as an equitable
action in the district court. The scope of review for the
appeal shall be limited to de novo appellate review without a
trial or additional evidence.
Sec. 63. Section 400.28, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.28 Employees — number diminished.
1. When the public interest requires A city council may
implement a diminution of employees in a classification or
grade under civil service, the city council, acting in good
faith, may do either of the following:
a. Abolish the office and remove the employee from
the employee’s classification or grade thereunder. Such
a diminution shall be carried out in accordance with any
procedures provided in a collective bargaining agreement to
which a bargaining unit that has at least thirty percent of
members who are public safety employees as defined in section
20.3 is a party, if applicable.
b. Reduce the number of employees in any classification or
grade by suspending the necessary number.
2. In case it thus becomes necessary to so remove or
suspend any such employees, the persons so removed or
suspended shall be those having seniority of the shortest
duration in the classifications or grades affected, and such
seniority shall be computed as provided in section 400.12
for all persons holding seniority in the classification or
grade affected, regardless of their seniority in any other
classification or grade, but any such employee so removed from
any classification or grade shall revert to the employee’s
seniority in the next lower grade or classification; if such
seniority is equal, then the one less efficient and competent
as determined by the person or body having the appointing
power shall be the one affected.
3. In case of removal or suspension, the civil service
-39-commission shall issue to each person affected one certificate
showing the person’s comparative seniority or length of
service in each of the classifications or grades from which
the person is so removed and the fact that the person has
been honorably removed. The certificate shall also list each
classification or grade in which the person was previously
employed. The person’s name shall be carried for a period of
not less than three years after the suspension or removal on a
preferred list and appointments or promotions made during that
period to the person’s former duties in the classification or
grade shall be made in the order of greater seniority from the
preferred lists.
Sec. 64. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
DIVISION V
Health insurance matters
Sec. 65. NEW SECTION. 70A.41 Public employee health
insurance.
A public employer shall offer health insurance to all
permanent, full-time public employees employed by the public
employer. A public employer may offer health insurance to
any other public employees employed by the public employer.
All costs of such health insurance shall be determined as
otherwise provided by law. For purposes of this section,
“public employer” and “public employee” mean the same as
defined in section 20.3.
Sec. 66. STATE AND REGENTS EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE —
OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD. A thirty-day enrollment and change
period for health insurance coverage may be established and
administered for any employees of the state of Iowa, the state
board of regents, or an institution governed by the state
board of regents eligible to participate in a health insurance
plan offered by the state, state board, or institution
pursuant to chapter 509A, if the affected employees are
provided written notice of the period at least thirty days
before the beginning of the period and if the first day of
such a period occurs in calendar year 2017.
Sec. 67. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
-40-Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
______________________________
LINDA UPMEYER
Speaker of the House
______________________________
JACK WHITVER
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 291, Eighty-seventh General Assembly.
______________________________
CARMINE BOAL
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2017
______________________________
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor
-41-je/rj/md
including collective bargaining, educator employment
matters, personnel records and settlement agreements, city
civil service requirements, and health insurance matters,
making penalties applicable, and including effective date,
applicability, and transition provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
DIVISION I
Public employee collective bargaining
Section 1. Section 20.3, Code 2017, is amended by adding
the following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 10A. “Public safety employee” means a
public employee who is employed as one of the following:
a. A sheriff’s regular deputy.
b. A marshal or police officer of a city, township, or
special-purpose district or authority who is a member of a
paid police department.
c. A member, except a non-peace officer member, of the
division of state patrol, narcotics enforcement, state fire
-1- marshal, or criminal investigation, including but not limited
to a gaming enforcement officer, who has been duly appointed
by the department of public safety in accordance with section
80.15.
d. A conservation officer or park ranger as authorized by
section 456A.13.
e. A permanent or full-time fire fighter of a city,
township, or special-purpose district or authority who is a
member of a paid fire department.
f. A peace officer designated by the department of
transportation under section 321.477 who is subject to
mandated law enforcement training.
NEW SUBSECTION. 12. “Supplemental pay” means a payment
of moneys or other thing of value that is in addition to
compensation received pursuant to any other permitted subject
of negotiation specified in section 20.9 and is related to the
employment relationship.
Sec. 2. Section 20.6, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
1. Interpret, apply, and administer Administer the
provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 3. Section 20.6, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 6. Appoint a certified shorthand reporter
to report state employee grievance and discipline resolution
proceedings pursuant to section 8A.415 and fix a reasonable
amount of compensation for such service and for any transcript
requested by the board, which amounts shall be taxed as other
costs.
NEW SUBSECTION. 7. Contract with a vendor as the board
may deem necessary to conduct elections required by section
20.15 on behalf of the board. The board shall establish fees
by rule pursuant to chapter 17A to cover the cost of elections
required by section 20.15. Such fees shall be paid in advance
of an election and shall be paid by each employee organization
listed on the ballot.
Sec. 4. Section 20.7, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
2. Hire, evaluate, promote, demote, transfer, assign and
-1-retain public employees in positions within the public agency.
Sec. 5. Section 20.8, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 5. Exercise any right or seek any remedy
provided by law, including but not limited to those rights and
remedies available under sections 70A.28 and 70A.29, chapter
8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 216 and 400.
Sec. 6. Section 20.9, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.9 Scope of negotiations.
1. The For negotiations regarding a bargaining unit with
at least thirty percent of members who are public safety
employees, the public employer and the employee organization
shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings reasonably
in advance of the public employer’s budget-making process,
to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours,
vacations, insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift
differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay,
seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health
and safety matters, evaluation procedures, procedures for
staff reduction, in-service training, grievance procedures
for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, and
other matters mutually agreed upon. Negotiations shall also
include terms authorizing dues checkoff for members of the
employee organization and grievance procedures for resolving
any questions arising under the agreement, which shall be
embodied in a written agreement and signed by the parties.
If an agreement provides for dues checkoff, a member’s dues
may be checked off only upon the member’s written request
and the member may terminate the dues checkoff at any time
by giving thirty days’ written notice. For negotiations
regarding a bargaining unit that does not have at least
thirty percent of members who are public safety employees, the
public employer and the employee organization shall meet at
reasonable times, including meetings reasonably in advance
of the public employer’s budget-making process, to negotiate
in good faith with respect to base wages and other matters
mutually agreed upon. Such obligation to negotiate in good
faith does not compel either party to agree to a proposal
-2-or make a concession. Mandatory subjects of negotiation
specified in this subsection shall be interpreted narrowly and
restrictively.
2. Nothing in this section shall diminish the authority
and power of the department of administrative services, board
of regents’ merit system, Iowa public broadcasting board’s
merit system, or any civil service commission established by
constitutional provision, statute, charter, or special act to
recruit employees, prepare, conduct, and grade examinations,
rate candidates in order of their relative scores for
certification for appointment or promotion or for other
matters of classification, reclassification, or appeal rights
in the classified service of the public employer served.
3. All retirement systems, dues checkoffs, and other
payroll deductions for political action committees or other
political contributions or political activities shall be
excluded from the scope of negotiations. For negotiations
regarding a bargaining unit that does not have at least thirty
percent of members who are public safety employees, insurance,
leaves of absence for political activities, supplemental pay,
transfer procedures, evaluation procedures, procedures for
staff reduction, and subcontracting public services shall also
be excluded from the scope of negotiations.
4. The term of a contract entered into pursuant to this
chapter shall not exceed five years.
Sec. 7. Section 20.10, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH. j. Negotiate or attempt to negotiate
directly with a member of the governing board of a public
employer if the public employer has appointed or authorized
a bargaining representative for the purpose of bargaining
with the public employees or their representative, unless the
member of the governing board is the designated bargaining
representative of the public employer.
Sec. 8. Section 20.12, subsection 5, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
5. If an employee organization or any of its officers
is held to be in contempt of court for failure to comply
with an injunction pursuant to this section, or is convicted
-3-of violating this section, the employee organization shall
be immediately decertified, shall cease to represent the
bargaining unit, shall cease to receive any dues by checkoff,
and may again be certified only after twelve twenty-four
months have elapsed from the effective date of decertification
and only after if a new compliance with petition for
certification pursuant to section 20.14 is filed and a new
certification election pursuant to section 20.15 is held.
The penalties provided in this section may be suspended or
modified by the court, but only upon request of the public
employer and only if the court determines the suspension or
modification is in the public interest.
Sec. 9. Section 20.15, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.15 Elections — agreements with the state.
1. Initial certification elections.
a. Upon the filing of a petition for certification of an
employee organization, the board shall submit a question to
the public employees at an election in the bargaining unit
found appropriate by the board. The question on the ballot
shall permit the public employees to vote for no bargaining
representation or for any employee organization which has
petitioned for certification or which has presented proof
satisfactory to the board of support of ten thirty percent or
more of the public employees in the appropriate unit.
2. b. (1) If a majority of the votes cast on the
question is public employees in the bargaining unit vote for
no bargaining representation, the public employees in the
bargaining unit found appropriate by the board shall not be
represented by an employee organization.
(2) If a majority of the votes cast on the question is
public employees in the bargaining unit vote for a listed
employee organization, then that employee organization shall
represent the public employees in the bargaining unit found
appropriate by the board.
3. (3) If none of the choices on the ballot receive the
vote of a majority of the public employees voting in the
bargaining unit, the board shall conduct a runoff election
among the two choices receiving the greatest number of votes
-4- the public employees in the bargaining unit found appropriate
by the board shall not be represented by an employee
organization.
c. The board shall not consider a petition for
certification of an employee organization as the exclusive
representative of a bargaining unit unless a period of two
years has elapsed from the date of the last certification
election in which an employee organization was not certified
as the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit, of
the last retention and recertification election in which an
employee organization was not retained and recertified as
the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit, or
of the last decertification election in which an employee
organization was decertified as the exclusive representative
of that bargaining unit. The board shall also not consider
a petition for certification as the exclusive bargaining
representative of a bargaining unit if the bargaining unit is
at that time represented by a certified exclusive bargaining
representative.
2. Retention and recertification elections.
a. The board shall conduct an election to retain and
recertify the bargaining representative of a bargaining unit
prior to the expiration of the bargaining unit’s collective
bargaining agreement. The question on the ballot shall be
whether the bargaining representative of the public employees
in the bargaining unit shall be retained and recertified as
the bargaining representative of the public employees in the
bargaining unit. For collective bargaining agreements with a
June 30 expiration date, the election shall occur between June
1 and November 1, both dates included, in the year prior to
that expiration date. For collective bargaining agreements
with a different expiration date, the election shall occur
between three hundred sixty-five and two hundred seventy days
prior to the expiration date.
b. (1) If a majority of the public employees in
the bargaining unit vote to retain and recertify the
representative, the board shall retain and recertify the
bargaining representative and the bargaining representative
shall continue to represent the public employees in the
-5-bargaining unit.
(2) If a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
unit do not vote to retain and recertify the representative,
the board, after the period for filing written objections
pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed, shall immediately
decertify the representative and the public employees shall
not be represented by an employee organization except pursuant
to the filing of a subsequent petition for certification of
an employee organization as provided in section 20.14 and an
election conducted pursuant to such petition. Such written
objections and decertifications shall be subject to applicable
administrative and judicial review.
3. Decertification elections.
a. Upon the filing of a petition for decertification of
an employee organization, the board shall submit a question
to the public employees at an election in the bargaining
unit found appropriate by the board. The question on the
ballot shall be whether the bargaining representative of the
public employees in the bargaining unit shall be decertified
as the bargaining representative of public employees in the
bargaining unit.
b. (1) If a majority of the public employees in
the bargaining unit vote to decertify the bargaining
representative, the board, after the period for filing
written objections pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed,
shall immediately decertify the representative and the public
employees shall not be represented by an employee organization
except pursuant to the filing of a subsequent petition for
certification of an employee organization as provided in
section 20.14 and an election conducted pursuant to such
petition. Such written objections and decertifications shall
be subject to applicable administrative and judicial review.
(2) If a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
unit do not vote to decertify the bargaining representative,
the bargaining representative shall continue to represent the
public employees in the bargaining unit.
c. The board shall not consider a petition for
decertification of an employee organization unless a
bargaining unit’s collective bargaining agreement exceeds
-6-two years in length. The board shall not schedule a
decertification election for a bargaining unit within one
year of a prior certification, retention and recertification,
or decertification election involving the bargaining unit.
Unless otherwise prohibited by this paragraph, the board shall
schedule a decertification election not less than one hundred
fifty days before the expiration date of the bargaining unit’s
collective bargaining agreement.
4. Invalidation of elections. Upon written objections
filed by any party to public employee, public employer, or
employee organization involved in the election within ten days
after notice of the results of the election, if the board
finds that misconduct or other circumstances prevented the
public employees eligible to vote from freely expressing their
preferences, the board may invalidate the election and hold a
second election for the public employees.
5. Results certified. Upon completion of a valid election
in which the majority choice of the public employees voting
in the bargaining unit is determined, the board shall certify
the results of the election and shall give reasonable notice
of the order to all employee organizations listed on the
ballot, the public employers, and the public employees in the
appropriate bargaining unit.
6. State agreements. a. A petition for certification as
exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall
not be considered by the board for a period of one year from
the date of the noncertification of an employee organization
as the exclusive bargaining representative of that bargaining
unit following a certification election. A petition for
certification as the exclusive bargaining representative of a
bargaining unit shall also not be considered by the board if
the bargaining unit is at that time represented by a certified
exclusive bargaining representative.
b. A petition for the decertification of the exclusive
bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall not be
considered by the board for a period of one year from the date
of its certification, or within one year of its continued
certification following a decertification election, or during
the duration of a collective bargaining agreement which, for
-7-purposes of this section, shall be deemed not to exceed two
years. However, if a petition for decertification is filed
during the duration of a collective bargaining agreement, the
board shall award an election under this section not more than
one hundred eighty days and not less than one hundred fifty
days prior to the expiration of the collective bargaining
agreement. If an employee organization is decertified, the
board may receive petitions under section 20.14, provided that
no such petition and no election conducted pursuant to such
petition within one year from decertification shall include as
a party the decertified employee organization.
c. A collective bargaining agreement with the state, its
boards, commissions, departments, and agencies shall be for
two years. and the The provisions of a collective bargaining
agreement or arbitrator’s award affecting state employees
shall not provide for renegotiations which would require the
refinancing of salary and fringe benefits subjects within the
scope of negotiations under section 20.9 for the second year
of the term of the agreement, except as provided in section
20.17, subsection 6, and the. The effective date of any such
agreement shall be July 1 of odd-numbered years, provided
that if an exclusive bargaining representative is certified
on a date which will prevent the negotiation of a collective
bargaining agreement prior to July 1 of odd-numbered years for
a period of two years, the certified collective bargaining
representative may negotiate a one-year contract with the
public employer which shall be effective from July 1 of the
even-numbered year to July 1 of the succeeding odd-numbered
year when new contracts agreements shall become effective.
Sec. 10. Section 20.17, subsection 8, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
8. a. The salaries of all public employees of the state
under a merit system and all other fringe benefits which are
granted to all subjects within the scope of negotiations
pursuant to the provisions of section 20.9 regarding public
employees of the state shall be negotiated with the governor
or the governor’s designee on a statewide basis, except those
benefits which are not subject to subjects excluded from the
scope of negotiations pursuant to the provisions of section
-8-20.9, subsection 3.
b. For the negotiation of such a proposed, statewide
collective bargaining agreement to become effective in the
year following an election described in section 39.9, a
ratification election referred to in section 20.17, subsection
4, shall not be held, and the parties shall not request
arbitration as provided in section 20.22, subsection 1, until
at least two weeks after the date of the beginning of the
term of office of the governor in that year as prescribed
in the Constitution of the State of Iowa. On or after the
beginning of the term of office of the governor in that year
as prescribed in the Constitution of the State of Iowa, the
governor shall have the authority to reject such a proposed
statewide collective bargaining agreement. If the governor
does so, the parties shall commence collective bargaining in
accordance with section 20.17. Such negotiation shall be
complete not later than March 15 of that year, unless the
parties mutually agree to a different deadline. The board
shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A providing for
alternative deadlines for the completion of the procedures
provided in sections 20.17, 20.19, 20.20, and 20.22 for
negotiation of such statewide collective bargaining agreements
in such years, which deadlines may be waived by mutual
agreement of the parties.
Sec. 11. Section 20.17, subsection 9, Code 2017, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 12. Section 20.22, subsections 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9, Code
2017, are amended to read as follows:
2. Each party shall serve its final offer on each of
the impasse items upon the other party within four days of
the board’s receipt of the request for arbitration, or by a
deadline otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The parties
may continue to negotiate all offers until an agreement
is reached or an award is rendered by the arbitrator. The
full costs of arbitration under this section shall be shared
equally by the parties to the dispute.
3. The submission of the impasse items to the arbitrator
shall be limited to those items upon which the parties have
not reached agreement. With respect to each such item, the
-9-arbitrator’s award shall be restricted to the final offers on
each impasse item submitted by the parties to the arbitrator,
except as provided in subsection 9, paragraph “b”.
7. The For an arbitration involving a bargaining unit that
has at least thirty percent of members who are public safety
employees, the arbitrator shall consider and specifically
address in the arbitrator’s determination, in addition to any
other relevant factors, the following factors:
a. Past collective bargaining contracts between the parties
including the bargaining that led up to such contracts.
b. Comparison of wages, hours and conditions of employment
of the involved public employees with those of other public
employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to
factors peculiar to the area and the classifications involved.
c. The interests and welfare of the public, the ability of
the public employer to finance economic adjustments and the
effect of such adjustments on the normal standard of services.
d. The power of the public employer to levy taxes and
appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations.
8. a. The arbitrator may administer oaths, examine
witnesses and documents, take testimony and receive evidence,
and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and
the production of records. The arbitrator may petition the
district court at the seat of government or of the county
in which the hearing is held to enforce the order of the
arbitrator compelling the attendance of witnesses and the
production of records.
b. Except as required for purposes of the consideration
of the factors specified in subsection 7, paragraphs “a”
through “c”, and subsection 7A, paragraph “a”, subparagraphs
(1) through (3), the parties shall not introduce, and
the arbitrator shall not accept or consider, any direct
or indirect evidence regarding any subject excluded from
negotiations pursuant to section 20.9.
9. a. The arbitrator shall select within fifteen
days after the hearing the most reasonable offer, in the
arbitrator’s judgment, of the final offers on each impasse
item submitted by the parties.
b. (1) However, for an arbitration involving a bargaining
-10-unit that does not have at least thirty percent of members who
are public safety employees, with respect to any increase in
base wages, the arbitrator’s award shall not exceed the lesser
of the following percentages in any one-year period in the
duration of the bargaining agreement:
(a) Three percent.
(b) A percentage equal to the increase in the consumer
price index for all urban consumers for the midwest region,
if any, as determined by the United States department of
labor, bureau of labor statistics, or a successor index. Such
percentage shall be the change in the consumer price index
for the twelve-month period beginning eighteen months prior
to the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages
was submitted to the arbitrator and ending six months prior to
the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages was
submitted to the arbitrator.
(2) To assist the parties in the preparation of their final
offers on an impasse item regarding base wages, the board
shall provide information to the parties regarding the change
in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the
midwest region for any twelve-month period. The department of
workforce development shall assist the board in preparing such
information upon request.
Sec. 13. Section 20.22, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 7A. For an arbitration involving a
bargaining unit that does not have at least thirty percent of
members who are public safety employees, the following shall
apply:
a. The arbitrator shall consider and specifically address
in the arbitrator’s determination, in addition to any other
relevant factors, the following factors:
(1) Comparison of base wages, hours, and conditions
of employment of the involved public employees with those
of other public employees doing comparable work, giving
consideration to factors peculiar to the area and the
classifications involved. To the extent adequate, applicable
data is available, the arbitrator shall also compare base
wages, hours, and conditions of employment of the involved
-11-public employees with those of private sector employees doing
comparable work, giving consideration to factors peculiar to
the area and the classifications involved.
(2) The interests and welfare of the public.
(3) The financial ability of the employer to meet the cost
of an offer in light of the current economic conditions of the
public employer. The arbitrator shall give substantial weight
to evidence that the public employer’s authority to utilize
funds is restricted to special purposes or circumstances
by state or federal law, rules, regulations, or grant
requirements.
b. The arbitrator shall not consider the following factors:
(1) Past collective bargaining agreements between the
parties or bargaining that led to such agreements.
(2) The public employer’s ability to fund an award through
the increase or imposition of new taxes, fees, or charges, or
to develop other sources of revenues.
Sec. 14. Section 20.26, unnumbered paragraph 4, Code 2017,
is amended to read as follows:
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
voluntary contributions by individuals to political parties
or candidates, provided that such contributions are not made
through payroll deductions.
Sec. 15. Section 20.29, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
20.29 Filing agreement — public access — internet site.
1. Collective bargaining agreements shall be in writing
and shall be signed by the parties.
2. A copy of a collective bargaining agreement entered
into between a public employer and a certified employee
organization and made final under this chapter shall be filed
with the board by the public employer within ten days of the
date on which the agreement is entered into.
3. Copies of collective bargaining agreements entered
into between the state and the state employees’ bargaining
representatives and made final under this chapter shall be
filed with the secretary of state and be made available to the
public at cost.
4. The board shall maintain an internet site that allows
-12-searchable access to a database of collective bargaining
agreements and other collective bargaining information.
Sec. 16. Section 20.30, Code 2017, is amended by striking
the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
20.30 Supervisory member — no reduction before retirement.
A supervisory member of any department or agency employed
by the state of Iowa shall not be granted a voluntary
reduction to a nonsupervisory rank or grade during the
thirty-six months preceding retirement of the member. A
member of any department or agency employed by the state
of Iowa who retires in less than thirty-six months after
voluntarily requesting and receiving a reduction in rank or
grade from a supervisory to a nonsupervisory position shall
be ineligible for a benefit to which the member is entitled as
a nonsupervisory member but is not entitled as a supervisory
member.
Sec. 17. Section 20.31, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
A mediator shall not be required to testify in any judicial,
administrative, arbitration, or grievance proceeding regarding
any matters occurring in the course of a mediation, including
any verbal or written communication or behavior, other than
facts relating exclusively to the timing or scheduling of
mediation. A mediator shall not be required to produce or
disclose any documents, including notes, memoranda, or other
work product, relating to mediation, other than documents
relating exclusively to the timing or scheduling of mediation.
This subsection shall not apply in any of the following
circumstances:
Sec. 18. NEW SECTION. 20.32 Transit employees —
applicability.
All provisions of this chapter applicable to employees
described in section 20.3, subsection 10A, shall be applicable
on the same terms and to the same degree to any transit
employee if it is determined by the director of the department
of transportation, upon written confirmation from the United
States department of labor, that a public employer would
lose federal funding under 49 U.S.C. §5333(b) if the transit
employee is not covered under certain collective bargaining
-13-rights.
Sec. 19. Section 22.7, subsection 69, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
69. The evidence of public employee support for
the certification, retention and recertification, or
decertification of an employee organization as defined in
section 20.3 that is submitted to the public employment
relations board as provided in sections section 20.14 and or
20.15.
Sec. 20. Section 22.7, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 70. Information indicating whether a
public employee voted in a certification, retention and
recertification, or decertification election held pursuant to
section 20.15 or how the employee voted on any question on a
ballot in such an election.
Sec. 21. Section 70A.17A, subsection 3, Code 2017, is
amended by striking the subsection.
Sec. 22. Section 70A.19, Code 2017, is amended by striking
the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
70A.19 Payroll deduction for employee organization dues
prohibited.
The state, a state agency, a regents institution, a board
of directors of a school district, a community college, or
an area education agency, a county board of supervisors, a
governing body of a city, or any other public employer as
defined in section 20.3 shall not authorize or administer a
deduction from the salaries or wages of its employees for
membership dues to an employee organization as defined in
section 20.3.
Sec. 23. Section 412.2, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
1. From the proceeds of the assessments on the wages
and salaries of employees, of any such waterworks system,
or other municipally owned and operated public utility,
eligible to receive the benefits thereof. Notwithstanding any
provisions of section 20.9 to the contrary, a council, board
of waterworks, or other board or commission which establishes
a pension and annuity retirement system pursuant to this
-14-chapter, shall negotiate in good faith with a certified
employee organization as defined in section 20.3, which is
the collective bargaining representative of the employees,
with respect to the amount or rate of the assessment on the
wages and salaries of employees and the method or methods for
payment of the assessment by the employees.
Sec. 24. Section 602.1401, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
b. For purposes of chapter 20, the certified
representative, which on July 1, 1983, represents employees
who become judicial branch employees as a result of 1983 Iowa
Acts, ch.186, shall remain the certified representative when
the employees become judicial branch employees and thereafter,
unless the public employee organization is not retained
and recertified or is decertified in an election held under
section 20.15 or amended or absorbed into another certified
organization pursuant to chapter 20. Collective bargaining
negotiations shall be conducted on a statewide basis and the
certified employee organizations which engage in bargaining
shall negotiate on a statewide basis, although bargaining
units shall be organized by judicial district. The public
employment relations board shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 17A to implement this subsection.
Sec. 25. TRANSITION PROCEDURES — EMERGENCY RULES.
1. As of the effective date of this division of this Act,
parties, mediators, and arbitrators engaging in any collective
bargaining procedures provided for in chapter 20, Code 2017,
who have not, before the effective date of this division
of this Act, completed such procedures, shall immediately
terminate any such procedures in process. A collective
bargaining agreement negotiated pursuant to such procedures in
process shall not become effective. Parties, mediators, and
arbitrators shall not engage in further collective bargaining
procedures except as provided in this section. Such parties,
on or after the effective date of this division of this Act,
may commence collective bargaining in accordance with section
20.17, as amended in this division of this Act. If such
parties include a state public employer and a state employee
organization, negotiation of a proposed collective bargaining
-15-agreement to become effective during the remainder of calendar
year 2017 shall be complete not later than March 15, 2017,
unless the parties mutually agree to a different deadline.
If such parties include public employees represented by a
certified employee organization who are employed by a public
employer which is a school district, area education agency,
or community college, negotiation of a proposed collective
bargaining agreement to become effective during the remainder
of calendar year 2017 shall be complete not later than June
30, 2017, unless the parties mutually agree to a different
deadline.
2. The public employment relations board shall adopt
emergency rules under section 17A.4, subsection 3, and
section 17A.5, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, to provide for
procedures as deemed necessary to implement the provisions
of this section and the rules shall be effective immediately
upon filing unless a later date is specified in the rules.
Such rules shall include but are not limited to alternative
deadlines for completion of the procedures provided in
sections 20.17 and 20.22, as amended by this division of this
Act, and sections 20.19 and 20.20, which deadlines may be
waived by mutual agreement of the parties.
Sec. 26. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 27. APPLICABILITY.
1. With the exception of the section of this division of
this Act amending section 20.6, subsection 1, this division of
this Act does not apply to collective bargaining agreements
which have been ratified in a ratification election referred
to in section 20.17, subsection 4, for which an arbitrator
has made a final determination as described in section 20.22,
subsection 11, or which have become effective, where such
events occurred before the effective date of this division of
this Act. This division of this Act applies to all collective
bargaining procedures provided for in chapter 20 occurring
on and after the effective date of this division of this Act
and collective bargaining agreements for which a ratification
election referred to in section 20.17, subsection 4, is
-16-held, for which an arbitrator makes a final determination as
described in section 20.22, subsection 11, or which, unless
otherwise provided in this section, become effective on or
after the effective date of this division of this Act.
2. The provision of this division of this Act amending
section 70A.19 does not apply to dues deductions required by
collective bargaining agreements which have been ratified in a
ratification election referred to in section 20.17, subsection
4, for which an arbitrator has made a final determination
as described in section 20.22, subsection 11, or which have
become effective, where such events occurred before the
effective date of this division of this Act.
3. Section 20.15, subsection 2, as enacted by this
division of this Act, does not apply to collective bargaining
agreements with expiration dates occurring before April 1,
2018.
DIVISION II
EDUCATOR employment matters
Sec. 28. Section 279.13, subsections 2 and 5, Code 2017,
are amended to read as follows:
2. The contract shall remain in force and effect for the
period stated in the contract and shall be automatically
continued for equivalent periods except as modified or
terminated by mutual agreement of the board of directors and
the teacher or as modified or terminated in accordance with
the provisions specified in this chapter. A contract shall
not be offered by the employing board to a teacher under its
jurisdiction prior to March 15 of any year. A teacher who has
not accepted a contract for the ensuing school year tendered
by the employing board may resign effective at the end of the
current school year by filing a written resignation with the
secretary of the board. The resignation must be filed not
later than the last day of the current school year or the date
specified by the employing board for return of the contract,
whichever date occurs first. However, a teacher shall not be
required to return a contract to the board or to resign less
than twenty-one days after the contract has been offered.
5. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
a temporary contract may be issued to a teacher for a period
-17-of up to six months. Notwithstanding the other provisions
of this section, a temporary contract may also be issued to
a teacher to fill a vacancy created by a leave of absence
in accordance with the provisions of section 29A.28, which
contract shall automatically terminate upon return from
military leave of the former incumbent of the teaching
position and which contract. Temporary contracts shall not be
subject to the provisions of sections 279.15 through 279.19,
or section 279.27. A separate extracurricular contract issued
pursuant to section 279.19A to a person issued a temporary
contract under this section shall automatically terminate with
the termination of the temporary contract as required under
section 279.19A, subsection 8.
Sec. 29. Section 279.13, subsection 4, unnumbered
paragraph 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
For purposes of this section, sections 279.14, 279.15
through 279.17, 279.16, 279.19, and 279.27, unless the
context otherwise requires, “teacher” includes the following
individuals employed by a community college:
Sec. 30. Section 279.14, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.14 Evaluation criteria and procedures.
1. The board shall establish evaluation criteria and shall
implement evaluation procedures. If an exclusive bargaining
representative has been certified, the board shall negotiate
in good faith with respect to evaluation procedures pursuant
to chapter 20.
2. The determination of standards of performance expected
of school district personnel shall be reserved as an exclusive
management right of the school board and shall not be subject
to mandatory negotiations under chapter 20. Notwithstanding
chapter 20, objections Objections to the procedures, use, or
content of an evaluation in a teacher termination proceeding
brought before the school board in a hearing held in
accordance with section 279.16 or 279.27 shall not be subject
to the any grievance procedures negotiated in accordance
with chapter 20. A school district shall not be obligated to
process any evaluation grievance after service of a notice
and recommendation to terminate an individual’s continuing
-18-teaching contract in accordance with this chapter.
Sec. 31. Section 279.15, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
c. Within five days of the receipt of the written notice
that the superintendent is recommending termination of the
contract, the teacher may request, in writing to the secretary
of the board, a private hearing with the board. The private
hearing shall not be subject to chapter 21 and shall be held
no sooner than ten twenty days and no later than twenty forty
days following the receipt of the request unless the parties
otherwise agree. The secretary of the board shall notify
the teacher in writing of the date, time, and location of
the private hearing, and at least five ten days before the
hearing shall also furnish to the teacher any documentation
which may be presented to the board at the private hearing and
a list of persons who may address the board in support of the
superintendent’s recommendation at the private hearing. At
least three seven days before the hearing, the teacher shall
provide any documentation the teacher expects to present at
the private hearing, along with the names of any persons who
may address the board on behalf of the teacher. This exchange
of information shall be at the time specified unless otherwise
agreed.
Sec. 32. Section 279.16, subsections 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10, Code 2017, are amended to read as follows:
1. The participants at the private hearing shall be
at least a majority of the members of the board, and their
legal representatives, if any, the and the witnesses for the
parties. The superintendent, the superintendent’s designated
representatives, if any, the teacher’s immediate supervisor,
the teacher, and the teacher’s representatives, if any, and
the witnesses for the parties may participate in the hearing
as well. The evidence at the private hearing shall be
limited to the specific reasons stated in the superintendent’s
notice of recommendation of termination. No A participant
in the hearing shall not be liable for any damages to any
person if any statement at the hearing is determined to be
erroneous as long as the statement was made in good faith.
The superintendent shall present evidence and argument
-19-on all issues involved and the teacher may cross-examine,
respond, and present evidence and argument in the teacher’s
behalf relevant to all issues involved. Evidence may be by
stipulation of the parties and informal settlement may be
made by stipulation, consent, or default or by any other
method agreed upon by the parties in writing. The board shall
employ a certified shorthand reporter to keep a record of the
private hearing. The proceedings or any part thereof shall be
transcribed at the request of either party with the expense of
transcription charged to the requesting party.
2. The presiding officer of the board may administer oaths
in the same manner and with like effect and under the same
penalties as in the case of magistrates exercising criminal
or civil jurisdiction. The board shall cause subpoenas to be
issued for such witnesses and the production of such books
and papers as either the board or the teacher may designate.
The subpoenas shall be signed by the presiding officer of the
board.
6. If the teacher fails to timely request a private hearing
or does not appear at the private hearing, the board may
proceed and make a determination upon the superintendent’s
recommendation. If the teacher fails to timely file a request
for a private hearing, the determination shall be not later
than May 31. If the teacher fails to appear at the private
hearing, the determination shall be not later than five days
after the scheduled date for the private hearing. The board
shall convene in open session and by roll call vote determine
the termination or continuance of the teacher’s contract
and, if the board votes to continue the teacher’s contract,
whether to suspend the teacher with or without pay for a
period specified by the board or issue the teacher a one-year,
nonrenewable contract.
7. Within five days after the private hearing, the board
shall, in executive session, meet to make a final decision
upon the recommendation and the evidence as herein provided.
The board shall also consider any written brief and arguments
submitted by the superintendent and the teacher.
8. a. The record for a private hearing shall include:
a. (1) All pleadings, motions, and intermediate rulings.
-20- b. (2) All evidence received or considered and all other
submissions.
c. (3) A statement of all matters officially noticed.
d. (4) All questions and offers of proof, objections, and
rulings thereon.
e. (5) All findings and exceptions.
f. (6) Any decision, opinion, or conclusion by the board.
g. Findings of fact
b. The decision of the boardshall be based solely on the
evidence in the record and on matters officially noticed in
the record.
9. The decision of the board shall be in writing and shall
include findings of fact and conclusions of law, separately
stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in statutory language,
shall be accompanied by a concise and explicit statement
of the underlying facts and supporting the findings. Each
conclusion of law shall be supported by cited authority or by
reasoned opinion.
10. When the board has reached a decision, opinion, or
conclusion, it shall convene in open meeting and by roll
call vote determine the continuance or discontinuance of the
teacher’s contract and, if the board votes to continue the
teacher’s contract, whether to suspend the teacher with or
without pay for a period specified by the board or issue the
teacher a one-year, nonrenewable contract. The record of the
private conference hearing and findings of fact and exceptions
written decision of the board shall be exempt from the
provisions of chapter 22. The secretary of the board shall
immediately mail notice of the board’s action to the teacher.
Sec. 33. Section 279.16, subsections 3 and 5, Code 2017,
are amended by striking the subsections.
Sec. 34. Section 279.18, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.18 Appeal by either party teacher to court.
1. If either party a teacher rejects the adjudicator’s
board’s decision, the rejecting party teacher shall, within
thirty days of the initial filing of such decision, appeal to
the district court of the county in which the administrative
office of the school district is located. The notice of
-21-appeal shall be immediately mailed by certified mail to the
other party board. The adjudicator secretary of the board
shall transmit to the reviewing court the original or a
certified copy of the entire record which may be the subject
of the petition. By stipulation of all parties to the review
proceedings, the record of such a case may be shortened. A
party unreasonably refusing to stipulate to limit the record
may be taxed by the court for the additional cost. The court
may require or permit subsequent corrections or additions to
the shortened record.
2. In proceedings for judicial review of the adjudicator’s
board’s decision, the court shall not hear any further
evidence but shall hear the case upon the certified record.
In such judicial review, especially when considering the
credibility of witnesses, the court shall give weight to
the fact findings decision of the board;, but shall not be
bound by them it. The court may affirm the adjudicator’s
board’s decision or remand to the adjudicator or the board
for further proceedings upon conditions determined by the
court. The court shall reverse, modify, or grant any other
appropriate equitable or legal relief from the board decision,
or the adjudicator’s decision equitable or legal and including
declaratory relief, if substantial rights of the petitioner
have been prejudiced because the action is any of the
following:
a. In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
or.
b. In excess of the statutory authority of the board or the
adjudicator; or.
c. In violation of a board rule or policy or contract; or.
d. Made upon unlawful procedure; or.
e. Affected by other error of law; or.
f. Unsupported by a preponderance of the competent evidence
in the record made before the board and the adjudicator when
that record is viewed as a whole; or.
g. Unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious or characterized
by an abuse of discretion or a clearly unwarranted exercise of
discretion.
3. An aggrieved or adversely affected party to the judicial
-22-review proceeding may obtain a review of any final judgment of
the district court by appeal to the supreme court. The appeal
shall be taken as in other civil cases, although the appeal
may be taken regardless of the amount involved.
4. For purposes of this section, unless the context
otherwise requires, “rejecting party” “teacher” shall include,
but not be limited to, an instructor employed by a community
college.
Sec. 35. Section 279.19, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.19 Probationary period.
1. The first three consecutive years of employment of
a teacher in the same school district are a probationary
period. However, if the teacher has successfully completed a
probationary period of employment for another school district
located in Iowa, the probationary period in the current
district of employment shall not exceed one year two years.
A board of directors may waive the probationary period for
any teacher who previously has served a probationary period
in another school district and the board may extend the
probationary period for an additional year with the consent
of the teacher.
2. In the case of the termination of a probationary
teacher’s contract, the contract may be terminated by the
board of directors effective at the end of a school year
without cause. The superintendent or the superintendent’s
designee shall notify the teacher not later than April 30 that
the board has voted to terminate the contract effective at
the end of the school year. The notice shall be in writing
by letter, personally delivered, or mailed by certified
mail. The notification shall be complete when received by
the teacher. Within ten days after receiving the notice,
the teacher may request a private conference with the school
board to discuss the reasons for termination. The provisions
of sections 279.15 and 279.16 shall not apply to such a
termination. However, if the probationary teacher is a
beginning teacher who fails to demonstrate competence in the
Iowa teaching standards in accordance with chapter 284, the
provisions of sections 279.17 and 279.18 shall also apply.
-23- 3. The board’s decision shall be final and binding unless
the termination was based upon an alleged violation of a
constitutionally guaranteed right of the teacher or an alleged
violation of public employee rights of the teacher under
section 20.10.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the
grievance procedures of section 20.18 relating to job
performance or job retention shall not apply to a teacher
during the first two years of the teacher’s probationary
period. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a teacher
who has successfully completed a probationary period in a
school district in Iowa.
Sec. 36. Section 279.19A, subsections 1, 2, 7, and 8, Code
2017, are amended to read as follows:
1. School districts employing individuals to coach
interscholastic athletic sports shall issue a separate
extracurricular contract for each of these sports. An
extracurricular contract offered under this section shall be
separate from the contract issued under section 279.13. Wages
for employees who coach these sports shall be paid pursuant
to established or negotiated supplemental pay schedules.
An extracurricular contract shall be in writing, and shall
state the number of contract days for that sport, the annual
compensation to be paid, and any other matters as may be
mutually agreed upon. The contract shall be for a single
school year.
2. a. An extracurricular contract shall be continued
automatically in force and effect for equivalent periods,
except as modified or terminated by mutual agreement of
the board of directors and the employee, or terminated in
accordance with this section. An extracurricular contract
shall initially be offered by the employing board to an
individual on the same date that contracts are offered to
teachers under section 279.13. An extracurricular contract
may be terminated at the end of a school year pursuant to
sections 279.15 through 279.19. If the school district offers
an extracurricular contract for a sport for the subsequent
school year to an employee who is currently performing
under an extracurricular contract for that sport, and the
-24-employee does not wish to accept the extracurricular contract
for the subsequent year, the employee may resign from the
extracurricular contract within twenty-one days after it has
been received.
b. Section 279.13, subsection 3, applies to this section.
If the provisions of an extracurricular contract executed
under this section conflict with a collective bargaining
agreement negotiated under chapter 20 and effective when
the extracurricular contract is executed or renewed, the
provisions of the collective bargaining agreement shall
prevail.
7. An extracurricular contract may be terminated prior to
the expiration of that contract pursuant to section 279.27
for any lawful reason following an informal, private hearing
before the board of directors. The decision of the board to
terminate an extracurricular contract shall be final.
8. a. A termination proceeding of regarding an
extracurricular contract either by the board pursuant to
subsection 2 or pursuant to section 279.27 does shall not
affect a contract issued pursuant to section 279.13.
b. A termination of a contract entered into pursuant to
section 279.13, or a resignation from that contract by the
teacher, constitutes an automatic termination or resignation
of the extracurricular contract in effect between the same
teacher and the employing school board.
Sec. 37. Section 279.23, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
c. The rate of compensation per week of five consecutive
days or month of four consecutive weeks.
Sec. 38. Section 279.23, subsection 5, Code 2017, is
amended to read as follows:
5. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
a temporary contract may be issued to an administrator for
up to nine months. Notwithstanding the other provisions of
this section, a temporary contract may also be issued to an
administrator to fill a vacancy created by a leave of absence
in accordance with the provisions of section 29A.28, which
contract shall automatically terminate upon return from
military leave of the former incumbent of the administrator
-25-position and which contract. Temporary contracts shall not be
subject to the provisions of sections 279.24 and 279.25.
Sec. 39. Section 279.24, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2017,
are amended to read as follows:
2. If the board of directors is considering termination
of an administrator’s contract, prior to any formal action,
the board may arrange to meet in closed session, in accordance
with the provisions of section 21.5, with the administrator
and the administrator’s representative. The board shall
review the administrator’s evaluation, review the reasons
for nonrenewal, and give the administrator an opportunity
to respond. If, following the closed session, the board
of directors and the administrator are unable to mutually
agree to a modification or termination of the administrator’s
contract, or the board of directors and the administrator are
unable to mutually agree to enter into may issue a one-year
nonrenewable contract, to the administrator. If the board of
directors decides to terminate the administrator’s contract,
the board shall follow the procedures in this section.
4. Administrators employed in a school district for
less than two three consecutive years are probationary
administrators. However, a school board may waive the
probationary period for any administrator who has previously
served a probationary period in another school district
and the school board may extend the probationary period for
an additional year with the consent of the administrator.
If a school board determines that it should terminate a
probationary administrator’s contract, the school board
shall notify the administrator not later than May 15 that the
contract will not be renewed beyond the current year. The
notice shall be in writing by letter, personally delivered, or
mailed by certified mail. The notification shall be complete
when received by the administrator. Within ten days after
receiving the notice, the administrator may request a private
conference with the school board to discuss the reasons for
termination. The school board’s decision to terminate a
probationary administrator’s contract shall be final unless
the termination was based upon an alleged violation of a
constitutionally guaranteed right of the administrator.
-26- Sec. 40. Section 279.24, subsection 5, paragraphs c, d, e,
f, g, and h, Code 2017, are amended to read as follows:
c. Within five days after receipt of the written notice
that the school board has voted to consider termination of
the contract, the administrator may request a private hearing
in writing to the secretary of the school board that. The
board shall then forward the notification be forwarded to
the board of educational examiners along with a request that
the board of educational examiners submit a list of five
qualified administrative law judges to the parties. Within
three days from receipt of the list the parties shall select
an administrative law judge by alternately removing a name
from the list until only one name remains. The person whose
name remains shall be the administrative law judge. The
parties shall determine by lot which party shall remove the
first name from the list. The private hearing shall be held
no sooner than ten twenty days and not later than thirty forty
days following the administrator’s request unless the parties
otherwise agree. If the administrator does not request a
private hearing, the school board, not later than May 31, may
determine the continuance or discontinuance of the contract
and, if the board determines to continue the administrator’s
contract, whether to suspend the administrator with or without
pay for a period specified by the board. School board action
shall be by majority roll call vote entered on the minutes
of the meeting. Notice of school board action shall be
personally delivered or mailed to the administrator.
d. The administrative law judge selected shall notify
the secretary of the school board and the administrator in
writing concerning the date, time, and location of the private
hearing. The school board may be represented by a legal
representative, if any, and the administrator shall appear and
may be represented by counsel or by representative, if any.
Any witnesses for the parties at the private hearing shall be
sequestered. A transcript or recording shall be made of the
proceedings at the private hearing. A school board member or
administrator is not liable for any damage to an administrator
or school board member if a statement made at the private
hearing is determined to be erroneous as long as the statement
-27-was made in good faith.
e. The administrative law judge shall, within ten days
following the date of the private hearing, make a proposed
decision as to whether or not the administrator should be
dismissed, and shall give a copy of the proposed decision
to the administrator and the school board. Findings of
fact shall be prepared by the administrative law judge. The
proposed decision of the administrative law judge shall become
the final decision of the school board unless within ten
thirty days after the filing of the decision the administrator
files a written notice of appeal with the school board, or
the school board on its own motion determines to review the
decision.
f. If the administrator appeals to the school board, or
if the school board determines on its own motion to review
the proposed decision of the administrative law judge, a
private hearing shall be held before the school board within
five ten days after the petition for review, or motion for
review, has been made or at such other time as the parties
agree. The private hearing is not subject to chapter 21.
The school board may hear the case de novo upon the record
as submitted before the administrative law judge. In cases
where there is an appeal from a proposed decision or where
a proposed decision is reviewed on motion of the school
board, an opportunity shall be afforded to each party to file
exceptions, present briefs, and present oral arguments to
the school board which is to render the final decision. The
secretary of the school board shall give the administrator
written notice of the time, place, and date of the private
hearing. The school board shall meet within five days after
the private hearing to determine the question of continuance
or discontinuance of the contract and, if the board determines
to continue the administrator’s contract, whether to
suspend the administrator with or without pay for a period
specified by the board or issue the administrator a one-year,
nonrenewable contract. The school board shall make findings
of fact which shall be based solely on the evidence in the
record and on matters officially noticed in the record.
g. The decision of the school board shall be in writing
-28-and shall include findings of fact and conclusions of
law, separately stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in
statutory language, shall be accompanied by a concise and
explicit statement of the underlying facts supporting the
findings. Each conclusion of law shall be supported by cited
authority or by reasoned opinion.
h. When the school board has reached a decision, opinion,
or conclusion, it shall convene in open meeting and by roll
call vote determine the continuance or discontinuance of
the administrator’s contract and, if the board votes to
continue the administrator’s contract, whether to suspend the
administrator with or without pay for a period specified by
the board or issue the administrator a one-year, nonrenewable
contract. The record of the private conference hearing
and findings of fact and exceptions written decision of the
board shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 22. The
secretary of the school board shall immediately personally
deliver or mail notice of the school board’s action to the
administrator.
Sec. 41. Section 279.27, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
279.27 Discharge of teacher.
1. A teacher may be discharged at any time during
the contract year for just cause. The superintendent or
the superintendent’s designee, shall notify the teacher
immediately that the superintendent will recommend in writing
to the board at a regular or special meeting of the board
held not more than fifteen days after notification has been
given to the teacher that the teacher’s continuing contract be
terminated effective immediately following a decision of the
board. The procedure for dismissal shall be as provided in
section 279.15, subsection 2, and sections 279.16 to through
279.19. The superintendent may suspend a teacher under this
section pending hearing and determination by the board.
2. For purposes of this section, “just cause” includes
but is not limited to a violation of the code of professional
conduct and ethics of the board of educational examiners if
the board has taken disciplinary action against a teacher,
during the six months following issuance by the board
-29-of a final written decision and finding of fact after a
disciplinary proceeding.
Sec. 42. Section 284.3, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended
to read as follows:
2. A school board shall provide for the following:
a. For purposes of comprehensive evaluations, standards
and criteria which measure a beginning teacher’s performance
against the Iowa teaching standards specified in subsection
1, and the criteria for the Iowa teaching standards
developed by the department in accordance with section
256.9, to determine whether the teacher’s practice meets the
requirements specified for a career teacher. These standards
and criteria shall be set forth in an instrument provided by
the department. The comprehensive evaluation and instrument
are not subject to negotiations or grievance procedures
pursuant to chapter 20 or determinations made by the board
of directors under section 279.14. A local school board
and its certified bargaining representative may negotiate,
pursuant to chapter 20, evaluation and grievance procedures
for beginning teachers that are not in conflict with this
chapter. If, in accordance with section 279.19, a beginning
teacher appeals the determination of a school board to an
adjudicator under section 279.17, the adjudicator selected
shall have successfully completed training related to the
Iowa teacher standards, the criteria adopted by the state
board in accordance with subsection 3, and any additional
training required under rules adopted by the public employment
relations board in cooperation with the state board.
b. For purposes of performance reviews for teachers other
than beginning teachers, evaluations that contain, at a
minimum, the Iowa teaching standards specified in subsection
1, as well as the criteria for the Iowa teaching standards
developed by the department in accordance with section
256.9, subsection 42. A local school board and its certified
bargaining representative may negotiate, pursuant to chapter
20, additional teaching standards and criteria. A local
school board and its certified bargaining representative shall
negotiate, pursuant to chapter 20, evaluation and grievance
procedures for teachers other than beginning teachers that are
-30-not in conflict with this chapter.
Sec. 43. Section 284.4, subsection 1, paragraph c,
subparagraphs (2) and (5), Code 2017, are amended to read as
follows:
(2) Monitor the evaluation requirements of this chapter
to ensure evaluations are conducted in a fair and consistent
manner throughout the school district or agency. In addition
to any negotiated evaluation procedures, The committee
shall develop model evidence for the Iowa teaching standards
and criteria. The model evidence will minimize paperwork
and focus on teacher improvement. The model evidence will
determine which standards and criteria can be met with
observation and which evidence meets multiple standards and
criteria.
(5) Ensure the agreement negotiated pursuant to chapter
20 determines Determine the compensation for teachers on the
committee for work responsibilities required beyond the normal
work day.
Sec. 44. Section 284.8, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2017, are
amended to read as follows:
2. If a supervisor or an evaluator determines, at any
time, as a result of a teacher’s performance that the teacher
is not meeting district expectations under the Iowa teaching
standards specified in section 284.3, subsection 1, paragraphs
“a” through “h”, and the criteria for the Iowa teaching
standards developed by the department in accordance with
section 256.9, subsection 42, and any other standards or
criteria established in the collective bargaining agreement,
the evaluator shall, at the direction of the teacher’s
supervisor, recommend to the district that the teacher
participate in an intensive assistance program. The intensive
assistance program and its implementation are not subject to
negotiation and grievance procedures established pursuant to
chapter 20. All school districts shall be prepared to offer
an intensive assistance program.
4. A teacher who is not meeting the applicable standards
and criteria based on a determination made pursuant to
subsection 2 shall participate in an intensive assistance
program. However, a teacher who has previously participated
-31-in an intensive assistance program relating to particular
Iowa teaching standards or criteria shall not be entitled to
participate in another intensive assistance program relating
to the same standards or criteria and shall be subject to the
provisions of subsection 5.
Sec. 45. Section 284.8, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 46. Section 284.8, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 5. Following a teacher’s participation
in an intensive assistance program, the teacher shall be
reevaluated to determine whether the teacher successfully
completed the intensive assistance program and is meeting
district expectations under the applicable Iowa teaching
standards or criteria. If the teacher did not successfully
complete the intensive assistance program or continues not to
meet the applicable Iowa teaching standards or criteria, the
board may do any of the following:
a. Terminate the teacher’s contract immediately pursuant
to section 279.27.
b. Terminate the teacher’s contract at the end of the
school year pursuant to section 279.15.
c. Continue the teacher’s contract for a period not to
exceed one year. However, the contract shall not be renewed
and shall not be subject to section 279.15.
Sec. 47. REPEAL. Section 279.17, Code 2017, is repealed.
Sec. 48. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 49. APPLICABILITY. This division of this Act applies
to employment contracts of school employees entered into
pursuant to chapter 279 on and after the effective date of
this division of this Act. This division of this Act does
not apply to collective bargaining agreements pursuant to
chapter 20 which have been ratified in a ratification election
referred to in section 20.17, subsection 4, for which an
arbitrator has made a final determination as described in
section 20.22, subsection 11, or which have become effective,
where such events occurred before the effective date of this
-32-division of this Act. This division of this Act applies to
all collective bargaining procedures provided for in chapter
20 occurring on and after the effective date of this division
of this Act and collective bargaining agreements pursuant to
chapter 20 for which a ratification election referred to in
section 20.17, subsection 4, is held, for which an arbitrator
makes a final determination as described in section 20.22,
subsection 11, or which, unless otherwise provided in this
section, become effective on or after the effective date of
this division of this Act.
DIVISION III
personnel records and settlement agreements
Sec. 50. Section 22.7, subsection 11, paragraph a,
subparagraph (5), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
(5) The fact that the individual resigned in lieu of
termination, was discharged, or was demoted as the result
of a final disciplinary action upon the exhaustion of all
applicable contractual, legal, and statutory remedies, and the
documented reasons and rationale for the resignation in lieu
of termination, the discharge, or the demotion. For purposes
of this subparagraph, “demoted” and “demotion” mean a change
of an employee from a position in a given classification to a
position in a classification having a lower pay grade.
Sec. 51. NEW SECTION. 22.13A Personnel settlement
agreements — state employees — confidentiality — disclosure.
1. For purposes of this section:
a. “Personnel settlement agreement” means a binding legal
agreement between a state employee and the state employee’s
employer, subject to section 22.13, to resolve a personnel
dispute including but not limited to a grievance. “Personnel
settlement agreement” does not include an initial decision by
a state employee’s employer concerning a personnel dispute or
grievance.
b. “State employee” means an employee of the state who is
an employee of the executive branch as described in sections
7E.2 and 7E.5.
2. Personnel settlement agreements shall not contain any
confidentiality or nondisclosure provision that attempts to
prevent the disclosure of the personnel settlement agreement.
-33-In addition, any confidentiality or nondisclosure provision in
a personnel settlement agreement is void and unenforceable.
3. The requirements of this section shall not be superseded
by any provision of a collective bargaining agreement.
4. All personnel settlement agreements shall be made
easily accessible to the public on an internet site maintained
as follows:
a. For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of
the executive branch, excluding an employee of the state board
of regents or institution under the control of the state board
of regents, by the department of administrative services.
b. For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of
the state board of regents or institution under the control of
the state board of regents, by the state board of regents.
5. a. A state agency shall not enter into a personnel
settlement agreement with a state employee on behalf of the
state unless the personnel settlement agreement is first
reviewed by the attorney general or the attorney general’s
designee. Additionally, a state agency shall not enter into a
personnel settlement agreement with a state employee on behalf
of the state unless the agreement has been approved in writing
by the following individuals:
(1) For a state agency other than an institution governed
by the board of regents, the director of the department of
management, the director of the department of administrative
services, and the head of the state agency.
(2) For an institution governed by the board of regents,
the executive director of the board of regents and the head of
the institution.
b. If subparagraph (1) or (2) is not consistent with the
provision of a collective bargaining agreement, a state agency
shall provide the individuals referenced in this subsection,
as applicable, with regular reports regarding any personnel
settlement agreements entered into with state employees by the
state agency.
Sec. 52. NEW SECTION. 22.15 Personnel records —
discipline — employee notification.
A government body that takes disciplinary action against an
employee that may result in information described in section
-34-22.7, subsection 11, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5), being
placed in the employee’s personnel record, prior to taking
such disciplinary action, shall notify the employee in writing
that the information placed in the employee’s personnel file
as a result of the disciplinary action may become a public
record.
Sec. 53. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
Sec. 54. APPLICABILITY. The section of this division of
this Act amending section 22.7, subsection 11, applies to
all information described in section 22.7, subsection 11,
paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5), as amended by this division
of this Act, relating to information placed in an individual’s
personnel records on or after the effective date of this
division of this Act.
DIVISION IV
CITY CIVIL SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 55. Section 400.12, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.12 Seniority — extinguishment — reestablishment.
1. For the purpose of determining the seniority rights
of civil service employees, seniority shall be computed,
beginning with the date of appointment to or employment in any
positions for which they were certified or otherwise qualified
and established as provided in this chapter, but shall not
include any period of time exceeding sixty days in any one
year during which they were absent from the service except for
disability.
2. In the event that a civil service employee has more
than one classification or grade, the length of the employee’s
seniority rights shall date in the respective classifications
or grades from and after the time the employee was appointed
to or began employment in each classification or grade.
In the event that an employee has been promoted from one
classification or grade to another, the employee’s civil
service seniority rights shall be continuous in any department
grade or classification that the employee formerly held.
3. A list of all civil service employees shall be prepared
-35-and posted in the city hall by the civil service commission on
or before July 1 of each year, indicating the civil service
standing of each employee as to the employee’s seniority.
4. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining
agreement, a city council may extinguish the seniority rights,
including but not limited to seniority accrued, provided
pursuant to this section to all civil service employees who
are not employed or appointed as a fire fighter or police
officer, fire chief or police chief, or assistant fire chief
or assistant police chief. A city council may subsequently
reestablish seniority rights extinguished pursuant to this
section for all employees who are not employed or appointed as
a fire fighter or police officer, fire chief or police chief,
or assistant fire chief or assistant police chief. Seniority
rights reestablished in this way may include, but are not
required to include, accrual of seniority for employment prior
to the reestablishment of such rights.
Sec. 56. Section 400.17, subsection 4, Code 2017, is
amended to read as follows:
4. A person shall not be appointed, denied appointment,
promoted, removed, discharged, suspended, or demoted to or
from a civil service position or in any other way favored or
discriminated against in that position because of political
or religious opinions or affiliations, race, national origin,
sex, or age, or in retaliation for the exercise of any right
enumerated in this chapter. However, the maximum age for a
police officer or fire fighter covered by this chapter and
employed for police duty or the duty of fighting fires is
sixty-five years of age.
Sec. 57. Section 400.18, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.18 Removal, discharge, demotion, or suspension.
1. A person holding civil service rights as provided in
this chapter shall not be removed, discharged, demoted, or
suspended arbitrarily, except as otherwise provided in this
chapter, but may be removed, discharged, demoted, or suspended
after a hearing by a majority vote of the civil service
commission, for neglect of duty, disobedience, misconduct, or
failure to properly perform the person’s duties due to any act
-36-or failure to act by the employee that is in contravention of
law, city policies, or standard operating procedures, or that
in the judgment of the person having the appointing power as
provided in this chapter, or the chief of police or chief of
the fire department, is sufficient to show that the employee
is unsuitable or unfit for employment.
2. An employee who is removed, discharged, demoted, or
suspended may request a hearing before the civil service
commission to review the appointing authority’s, police
chief’s, or fire chief’s decision to remove, discharge,
demote, or suspend the employee.
2. 3. The party alleging neglect of duty, disobedience,
misconduct, or failure to properly perform a duty city
shall have the burden of proof to prove that the act or
failure to act by the employee was in contravention of
law, city policies, or standard operating procedures, or is
sufficient to show that the employee is unsuitable or unfit
for employment.
3. 4. A person subject to a hearing has the right to
be represented by counsel at the person’s expense or by the
person’s authorized collective bargaining representative.
5. A collective bargaining agreement to which a bargaining
unit that has at least thirty percent of members who are
public safety employees as defined in section 20.3 is a party
shall provide additional procedures not inconsistent with this
section for the implementation of this section.
Sec. 58. Section 400.19, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.19 Removal, or discharge, demotion, or suspension of
subordinates.
The person having the appointing power as provided in
this chapter, or the chief of police or chief of the fire
department, may, upon presentation of grounds for such action
to the subordinate in writing, peremptorily remove, discharge,
demote, or suspend, demote, or discharge a subordinate then
under the person’s or chief’s direction for neglect of duty,
disobedience of orders, misconduct, or failure to properly
perform the subordinate’s duties due to any act or failure
to act by the employee that is in contravention of law, city
-37-policies, or standard operating procedures, or that in the
judgment of the person or chief is sufficient to show that the
employee is unsuitable or unfit for employment.
Sec. 59. Section 400.20, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.20 Appeal.
The suspension removal, discharge, demotion, or discharge
suspension of a person holding civil service rights may be
appealed to the civil service commission within fourteen
calendar days after the suspension removal, discharge,
demotion, or discharge suspension.
Sec. 60. Section 400.21, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.21 Notice of appeal.
If the appeal be taken by the person suspended removed,
discharged, demoted, or discharged suspended, notice thereof,
signed by the appellant and specifying the ruling appealed
from, shall be filed with the clerk of commission; if by the
person making such suspension removal, discharge, demotion,
or discharge suspension, such notice shall also be served
upon the person suspended removed, discharged, demoted, or
discharged suspended.
Sec. 61. Section 400.22, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.22 Charges.
Within fourteen calendar days from the service of the
notice of appeal, the person or body making the ruling
appealed from shall file with the body to which the appeal is
taken a written specification of the charges and grounds upon
which the ruling was based. If the charges are not filed, the
person suspended or removed, discharged, demoted, or suspended
may present the matter to the body to whom the appeal is to
be taken by affidavit, setting forth the facts, and the body
to whom the appeal is to be taken shall immediately enter an
order reinstating the person suspended or removed, discharged,
demoted, or suspended for want of prosecution.
Sec. 62. Section 400.27, unnumbered paragraph 3, Code
2017, is amended to read as follows:
The city or any civil service employee shall have a right to
-38-appeal to the district court from the final ruling or decision
of the civil service commission. The appeal shall be taken
within thirty days from the filing of the formal decision of
the commission. The district court of the county in which the
city is located shall have full jurisdiction of the appeal
and the said appeal shall be a trial de novo as an equitable
action in the district court. The scope of review for the
appeal shall be limited to de novo appellate review without a
trial or additional evidence.
Sec. 63. Section 400.28, Code 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
400.28 Employees — number diminished.
1. When the public interest requires A city council may
implement a diminution of employees in a classification or
grade under civil service, the city council, acting in good
faith, may do either of the following:
a. Abolish the office and remove the employee from
the employee’s classification or grade thereunder. Such
a diminution shall be carried out in accordance with any
procedures provided in a collective bargaining agreement to
which a bargaining unit that has at least thirty percent of
members who are public safety employees as defined in section
20.3 is a party, if applicable.
b. Reduce the number of employees in any classification or
grade by suspending the necessary number.
2. In case it thus becomes necessary to so remove or
suspend any such employees, the persons so removed or
suspended shall be those having seniority of the shortest
duration in the classifications or grades affected, and such
seniority shall be computed as provided in section 400.12
for all persons holding seniority in the classification or
grade affected, regardless of their seniority in any other
classification or grade, but any such employee so removed from
any classification or grade shall revert to the employee’s
seniority in the next lower grade or classification; if such
seniority is equal, then the one less efficient and competent
as determined by the person or body having the appointing
power shall be the one affected.
3. In case of removal or suspension, the civil service
-39-commission shall issue to each person affected one certificate
showing the person’s comparative seniority or length of
service in each of the classifications or grades from which
the person is so removed and the fact that the person has
been honorably removed. The certificate shall also list each
classification or grade in which the person was previously
employed. The person’s name shall be carried for a period of
not less than three years after the suspension or removal on a
preferred list and appointments or promotions made during that
period to the person’s former duties in the classification or
grade shall be made in the order of greater seniority from the
preferred lists.
Sec. 64. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
DIVISION V
Health insurance matters
Sec. 65. NEW SECTION. 70A.41 Public employee health
insurance.
A public employer shall offer health insurance to all
permanent, full-time public employees employed by the public
employer. A public employer may offer health insurance to
any other public employees employed by the public employer.
All costs of such health insurance shall be determined as
otherwise provided by law. For purposes of this section,
“public employer” and “public employee” mean the same as
defined in section 20.3.
Sec. 66. STATE AND REGENTS EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE —
OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD. A thirty-day enrollment and change
period for health insurance coverage may be established and
administered for any employees of the state of Iowa, the state
board of regents, or an institution governed by the state
board of regents eligible to participate in a health insurance
plan offered by the state, state board, or institution
pursuant to chapter 509A, if the affected employees are
provided written notice of the period at least thirty days
before the beginning of the period and if the first day of
such a period occurs in calendar year 2017.
Sec. 67. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This division of this
-40-Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
enactment.
______________________________
LINDA UPMEYER
Speaker of the House
______________________________
JACK WHITVER
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 291, Eighty-seventh General Assembly.
______________________________
CARMINE BOAL
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2017
______________________________
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor
-41-je/rj/md