Iowa Mandates Veterans Day Off for Veterans
by Kelly Baier, Attorney
Iowa law now provides that an employer must, in most cases, provide each employee who is a veteran with Veterans Day (November 11) as time off work without pay. The employer may refuse to provide the time off work if the time off would impact public health or safety or would cause the employer to experience significant economic or operational disruption. The terms "impact public health or safety" and "significant economic or operational disruption" are not defined in the statute. Under the law, employers may choose to provide the time off with pay.
An employee who wants to take Veterans Day off work must provide at least one month's prior written notice to the employer and must provide the employer with a federal certificate of release or discharge from active duty, or similar federal document to demonstrate that the employee is a veteran.
After receiving a request for Veterans Day off, the employer must notify the employee at least ten days prior to Veterans Day whether the employee will be provided the time off. If the employer determines that it is unable to provide time off for Veterans Day for all employees who request time off, the employer can only deny time off to the minimum number of employees needed by the employer to protect public health and safety or to maintain minimum operational capacity. The term "minimum operational capacity" is not defined in the statute. Similarly, the statute provides no guidance as to how the employer is to determine which veterans will be granted the time off and which will be denied the time off.
To comply with this new law, employers should first determine whether they are going to provide the time off with pay or without pay and treat all requests for Veterans Day off in a consistent manner. If the employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement, it should be checked to see whether it provides for Veterans Day as a paid holiday. The employer should be alert for any requests for Veterans Day off so that it can respond to the request in a timely manner.
If you have questions regarding Iowa's new Veterans Day law, please contact Kelly Baier at 319-861-8723.