100B.14 - VOLUNTEER JOB PROTECTION.
100B.14 VOLUNTEER JOB PROTECTION.
1. This section shall be known as the "Volunteer Emergency
Services Providers Job Protection Act".
2. For the purposes of this section, "volunteer emergency
services provider" means a volunteer fire fighter as defined in
section 85.61, a reserve peace officer as defined in section 80D.1A,
an emergency medical care provider as defined in section 147A.1, or
other personnel having voluntary emergency service duties and who are
not paid full-time by the entity for which the services are performed
in the local service area, in a mutual aid agreement area, or in a
governor-declared state of disaster emergency area.
3. A public or private employer shall not terminate the
employment of an employee for joining a volunteer emergency services
unit or organization, including but not limited to any municipal,
rural, or subscription fire department.
4. If an employee has provided the employee's public or private
employer with written notification that the employee is a volunteer
emergency services provider, the employer shall not terminate the
employment of a volunteer emergency services provider who, because
the employee was fulfilling the employee's duties as a volunteer
emergency services provider, is absent from or late to work.
5. An employer may deduct from an employee's regular pay an
amount of regular pay for the time that an employee who is a
volunteer emergency services provider is absent from work while
performing duties as a volunteer emergency services provider.
6. An employer may request that an employee who is a volunteer
emergency services provider and who is absent from or late to work
while responding to an emergency provide the employer with a written
statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the volunteer
emergency services unit or organization stating that the employee
responded to an emergency and stating the date and time of the
emergency.
7. An employee who is a volunteer emergency services provider and
who may be absent from or late to work while performing duties as a
volunteer emergency services provider shall notify the employer as
soon as possible that the employee may be absent or late.
8. An employer shall determine whether an employee may leave work
to respond to an emergency as part of the employee's volunteer
emergency services provider duties.
9. An employee whose employment is terminated in violation of
this section may bring a civil action against the employer. The
employee may seek reinstatement to the employee's former position,
payment of back wages, reinstatement of fringe benefits, and, where
seniority rights are granted, reinstatement of seniority rights. If
the employee prevails in such an action, the employee shall be
entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and the costs of the
action. An employee must commence such an action within one year
after the date of termination of the employee's employment. Section History: Recent Form
2009 Acts, ch 165, §2