Amendment H-8427 to HF 2772

Filed April 28, 2026 in the House by

What it changes

1. Page 19, after line 15 by inserting: “DIVISION ___ FAMILY LEAVE AND MEDICAL LEAVE INSURANCE PROGRAM Sec. ___. Section 7E.5, subsection 1, paragraph h, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: h. The department of workforce development, created in section 84A.1 , which has primary responsibility for administering the laws relating to unemployment compensation insurance, job placement and training, the family leave and medical insurance program, and related matters. Sec. ___. Section 84A.1, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
2. The department of workforce development is created to administer the laws of this state relating to unemployment compensation insurance , and job placement and training , and the family leave and medical leave insurance program . Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.1 Short title. This chapter may be cited as the “Iowa Family and Medical Leave Act” . Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.2 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
3. “Child” means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, regardless of the child’s age or dependency status.
4. “Covered employer” means a private sector employer who has ten or more employees for each working day during each of twenty or more calendar workweeks in the current or previous calendar year, and a public employer without regard to the number of employees employed.
5. “Department” means the department of workforce development.
6. “Director” means the director of the department of workforce development.
7. “Domestic abuse” includes domestic abuse as defined in section 236.2 and domestic abuse assault as defined in section 708.2A.
8. “Employee” means a natural person who is employed in this state for wages by an employer. “Employee” also includes a commission salesperson who takes orders or performs services on behalf of a principal and who is paid on the basis of commissions but does not include persons who purchase for their own account for resale. “Employee” shall not include an independent contractor, a self-employed person, or a patient or inmate employed by a state or local institution to which the patient or inmate has been sentenced or committed, or any of the following persons engaged in agriculture: a. The spouse of the employer and a relative of either the employer or the employer’s spouse who resides on the premises of the employer. b. A person engaged in agriculture as an owner-operator or tenant-operator, and the spouse or a relative of either an owner-operator or a tenant-operator who resides on the premises while exchanging labor with the owner-operator or the tenant-operator for mutual benefit. c. A neighboring person engaged in agriculture who is exchanging labor or other services.
9. “Employer” means the same as defined in 91A.2. “Employer” includes a temporary staffing agency or employment agency.
10. “Employment benefits” means all benefits provided or made available to an employee by an employer, including group life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational benefits, and pensions except benefits that are provided by a practice or written policy of an employer or through an employee benefit plan as defined in 29 U.S.C. §1002(3).
11. “Family leave” means a leave taken from work by an employee for any of the following reasons: a. To participate in providing care, including physical or psychological care, for a family member of the employee made necessary by a serious health condition of the family member. b. To bond with the employee’s child after the child’s birth, or with a child under the age of eighteen placed with the employee for adoption or foster care. c. Because of a qualifying exigency for a family member as permitted under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, as amended, and federal regulations as provided in 29 C.F.R. §825.126. d. Because the employee or a family member has been a victim of crime, provided the leave is to do one or more of the following: (1) Seek medical attention for the employee or family member to recover from physical or psychological injury or disability caused by having been a victim of crime. (2) Obtain services or counseling from a victim services organization, licensed social worker, marital and family therapist, mental health counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. (3) Seek relocation or change of residence due to having been a victim of crime. (4) Take legal action, including reporting the crime to law enforcement and preparing for or participating in any civil or criminal legal proceeding related to or resulting from having been a victim of crime. (5) Obtain other services to ensure the safety of the employee or family member or the employee’s home or vehicle.
12. “Family member” means a child, parent, or spouse of an employee.
13. “Gross earnings” means the same as defined in section 85.61.
14. “Health care provider” means a physician or other health care practitioner licensed, accredited, registered, or certified to perform specified health care services consistent with state law.
15. “In loco parentis” means an individual who has day-to-day responsibilities to care for or financially support a child.
16. “Inpatient care” means an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity, or any subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care.
17. “Medical leave” means a leave from work taken by an employee made necessary by the employee’s own serious health condition.
18. “Other violent crime” means a crime causing, meant to cause, or threatening to cause personal injury to a person.
19. “Parent” means a biological, adoptive, step, or foster father or mother, or any other individual who stands in loco parentis to an employee or who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a child. “Parent” does not include a parent-in-law.
20. “Period of incapacity” means an inability to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities due to a serious health condition, treatment of a serious health condition, or recovery from a serious health condition.
21. “Premium” or “premiums” means the payments required by section 96A.12 and paid to the department for deposit in the family and medical leave insurance account pursuant to section 96A.22.
22. “Public employer” means the state of Iowa, its boards, commissions, agencies, departments, and its political subdivisions including school districts and other special purpose districts.
23. “Serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, physical condition, or mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, medical care facility, or continued treatment or continuing supervision by a health care provider.
24. “Spendable weekly earnings” means the amount remaining after payroll taxes are deducted from an employee’s gross weekly earnings.
25. “Spouse” means the person with whom an individual has entered into marriage as defined or recognized under state law for purposes of marriage in the state in which the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside of any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where the marriage was entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in at least one state, including a common law marriage.
26. “Stalking” means the same as described in section 708.11.
27. “Victim of crime” means a victim of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, other violent crime, or the surviving family member of a murder victim.
28. “Wages” means the same as defined in section 91A.2. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.3 Benefit eligibility. An employee is eligible for family leave and medical leave as provided in this chapter after working for a covered employer for both a minimum of twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the employee’s request for leave and a minimum of one thousand two hundred fifty hours during that twelve-consecutive-month period. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.4 Leave entitlement for a defined twelve-month period.
29. An employee is entitled to a maximum of twelve weeks of family leave during a defined period of twelve consecutive months.
30. An employee is entitled to a maximum of twelve weeks of medical leave during a defined period of twelve consecutive months unless the employee experiences a serious health condition, which is pregnancy-related, that results in a longer period of incapacity in which case any extended medical leave beyond twelve weeks shall conform with section 216.6.
31. An employee is entitled to a maximum combined total of paid family leave and medical leave of twelve weeks during a defined period of twelve consecutive months.
32. An employee is not entitled to family leave or medical leave of less than eight consecutive hours. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.5 Calculating the defined twelve-month period. The defined period of twelve consecutive months for calculation of an eligible employee’s family leave or medical leave entitlement begins on any of the following:
33. The date of birth of the employee’s child, or the date of placement of a child for adoption or foster care with the employee.
34. The first day of family leave that the employee takes for a family member’s serious health condition or a family member’s qualifying exigency or for the employee or family member being a victim of crime.
35. The first day of the employee’s medical leave. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.6 Disqualification from leave entitlement. An eligible employee is disqualified for family leave or medical leave benefits under this chapter for any of the following reasons:
36. An absence due to the employee’s willful intention to injure or cause a sickness to the employee or to the employee’s family member.
37. An injury or sickness caused by the employee engaging in an illegal act.
38. The employee’s absence due to an employer taking any disciplinary action against the employee. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.7 Employee notice to employer of intent to take leave.
39. If leave for the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care with an employee is foreseeable, the employee shall provide written notice to the employer not less than thirty calendar days before the date the leave is to begin.
40. If the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care with an employee requires leave to begin in less than thirty calendar days, the employee shall provide written notice to the employer as far in advance as is practicable.
41. If leave for a family member’s serious health condition or an employee’s serious health condition is foreseeable based on planned medical treatment, the employee shall do all of the following: a. Make a reasonable effort to schedule such medical treatment, subject to the recommendation of the employee’s or family member’s health care provider as appropriate, to not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. b. Provide the employer with not less than thirty calendar days prior written notice of the employee’s intention to take leave for a family member’s serious health condition or the employee’s serious health condition.
42. If leave for a family member’s serious health condition or an employee’s serious health condition is not foreseeable, the employee shall provide written notice to the employer as far in advance as is practicable. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.8 Weekly claim, certification, and verification. Beginning January 1, 2031, family leave or medical leave insurance benefits are payable to an employee during a period in which the employee is unable to perform the employee’s regular or customary work because the employee is on family leave or medical leave if the employee meets all of the following requirements:
43. The employee files a weekly claim for benefits with the department as required per rules adopted by the director.
44. The employee meets the eligibility requirements pursuant to section 96A.3 or the elective coverage requirements pursuant to section 96A.14.
45. The employee consents to the disclosure of information or records that may be deemed private or confidential under state or federal law. Disclosure of such information and records by another state agency or an employer to the department shall be solely for purposes related to the administration of this chapter. Information and records disclosed by an employee under this chapter shall not be public records as defined in section 22.1.
46. The employee authorizes the health care provider of the employee’s family member or of the employee, as applicable, to complete a certification of a serious health condition in a form as required by the director.
47. The employee attests that written notice has been provided to the employee’s employer per section 96A.7.
48. The employee provides documentation of a family member’s qualifying exigency or the crime of which the employee or family member was a victim if requested by the employee’s employer. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.9 Waiting period for leave benefits. Family leave or medical leave insurance benefits shall be payable to an eligible employee following a waiting period consisting of the first seven calendar days of the employee’s leave. However, no such waiting period applies to a leave for the birth or placement of a child with an eligible employee. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.10 Weekly leave benefit amount.
49. The basis for the calculation of a leave benefit amount shall be the weekly earnings of an eligible employee on the day the leave is granted. “Weekly earnings” means the gross earnings of an employee to which the employee would have been entitled had the employee worked the employee’s customary hours for the full pay period in which the employee is on family leave or medical leave. Weekly earnings shall be computed as follows, rounded to the nearest dollar, for an employee who is paid on the following basis: a. On a weekly pay period basis, the weekly earnings are the weekly gross earnings. b. On a biweekly pay period basis, the weekly earnings are one-half of the biweekly gross earnings. c. On a semimonthly pay period basis, the weekly earnings are the semimonthly gross earnings multiplied by twenty-four and then divided by fifty-two. d. On a monthly pay period basis, the weekly earnings are the monthly gross earnings multiplied by twelve and then divided by fifty-two. e. On a yearly pay period basis, the weekly earnings shall be the yearly earnings divided by fifty-two. f. On a daily or hourly basis, or by the output of an employee, the weekly earnings shall be computed by dividing by thirteen the earnings, including shift differential pay but not including overtime or premium pay, of the employee earned in the last completed period of thirteen consecutive calendar weeks immediately preceding the start day of the leave. If the employee was absent from employment for personal reasons during part of the thirteen calendar weeks preceding the leave, the employee’s weekly earnings shall be the amount the employee would have earned had the employee worked when work was available to other employees of the employer in a similar occupation. A week that does not fairly reflect the employee’s customary earnings shall be replaced by the closest previous week with earnings that fairly represent the employee’s customary earnings.
50. If on the date that an employee’s leave begins the employee’s hourly earnings cannot be ascertained, the earnings for the purpose of calculating the benefit amount shall be the usual earnings for similar services where such services are rendered by paid employees.
51. If an employee earns either no wages, or less than the usual weekly earnings of a regular full-time adult laborer in the line of work in which the employee is working in that locality, the weekly earnings shall be one-fiftieth of the total earnings that the employee has earned from all employment during the twelve consecutive calendar months immediately preceding the date that the employee’s leave begins.
52. The weekly leave benefit amount payable to an employee for any one week shall be eighty percent of the employee’s spendable weekly earnings, but shall not exceed an amount equal to two hundred percent of the statewide average weekly wage as calculated by the department pursuant to section 96.1A and in effect on the date that the employee’s leave commences. However, the weekly leave benefit amount shall be a minimum equal to the lesser of the weekly leave benefit amount of a person whose gross weekly earnings are thirty-five percent of the statewide average weekly wage, or to the spendable weekly earnings of the employee. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.11 Payment of benefits to an eligible employee.
53. The department shall send the first benefit payment to an employee within ten calendar days after the first properly completed weekly claim from the employee is received by the department. Subsequent payments shall be sent at least biweekly to an eligible employee if a properly completed weekly claim from the employee is received by the department.
54. If an employer contests an employee’s initial claim for family leave or medical leave benefits, the employer must notify the employee and the department in the manner prescribed by the director within ten calendar days of the employer’s receipt of notice from the department of the employee’s filing of a claim for benefits pursuant to section 96A.21, subsection
55. Failure to timely contest an initial application shall constitute a waiver of objection to the family leave or medical leave claim.
56. If the department or the employee’s employer contests an employee’s eligibility for benefits after the employee begins receiving benefits, the employee shall continue to be paid benefits conditionally for any weeks for which the employee files a claim for benefits. The employee’s right to retain such benefit payments shall be conditioned upon the department’s finding that the employee is eligible for such benefit payments. a. At an employee’s request, the department shall hold conditional benefit payments until the department resolves the employee’s eligibility status. b. Payment shall be issued promptly for any withheld benefit payments if the department determines that an employee is eligible for benefits. c. If the department determines that an employee is ineligible for the conditionally paid benefits, the employee shall repay the overpayment per rules adopted by the director. Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 96A.12 Funding the family leave and medical leave insurance program.
57. Beginning on January 1, 2030, and ending December 31, 2031, the department shall assess for each employee in employment with a covered employer a premium rate of four-tenths of one percent of the employee’s wages based on the amount of the wages, subject to subsection
58. a. The premium rate for family leave benefits shall be equal to one-third of the total premium rate. b. The premium rate for medical leave benefits shall be equal to two-thirds of the total premium rate.
59. For calendar year 2032 and subsequent calendar years the director shall determine the percentage of paid claims related to family leave benefits and the percentage of paid claims related to medical leave benefits and adjust the premium rates set in subsection 1 by the proportional share of claims paid for both types of leave.
60. For family leave premiums a covered employer may deduct up to forty-five percent of the full amount of the required premiums from the wages of each employee. The remaining fifty-five percent of the required premiums shall be paid by the covered employer.

Shortened here; the full amendment is in the official document.

Official amendment (PDF) · In the Bill Book