Bill > SF458

Introduced Session

This bill relates 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. The bill generally strikes statutory changes made by 2017 Iowa Acts, House File 291, and restores statutory language in effect prior to the enactment of 2017 Iowa Acts, House File 291. DIVISION I —— PUBLIC EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. This division makes a variety of changes to Code chapter 20, the public employment relations Act, as well as other Code provisions relating to collective bargaining by public employees. ELIMINATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND TRANSIT EMPLOYEE CATEGORIES. The division eliminates public safety employees and transit employees as separate categories of employees for the purposes of public employee collective bargaining, making affected provisions of Code chapter 20 applicable to all public employees governed by Code chapter 20. SCOPE OF NEGOTIATIONS. The division makes changes to subjects which are negotiated through collective bargaining between public employers and public employees under Code section 20.9. The division provides that the scope of negotiations for all public employees shall consist of 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, dues checkoff, grievance procedures for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, and other matters mutually agreed upon. The division provides that retirement systems shall be excluded from the scope of negotiations. The division strikes language providing that mandatory subjects of negotiation under Code section 20.9 shall be interpreted narrowly and restrictively. The division strikes language limiting the term of a collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to Code chapter 20 to a maximum of five years. ARBITRATION PROCEDURES. The division makes changes to the procedures for arbitration of impasses in collective bargaining between public employers and public employees under Code section 20.22. The division modifies the factors that an arbitrator is required to consider in addition to any other relevant factors in making a final determination on an impasse item. The division requires an arbitrator to consider past collective bargaining contracts between the parties including the bargaining that led up to such contracts; 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; 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; and the power of the public employer to levy taxes and appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations. The division strikes language permitting the parties to agree to change the four-day deadline to serve final offers on impasse items after a request for arbitration is received. The division strikes language prohibiting the parties to an arbitration from introducing, and the arbitrator from accepting or considering, any direct or indirect evidence regarding any subject excluded from negotiations pursuant to Code section 20.9. The division strikes language providing for a maximum increase in base wages in an arbitrator’s award. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE ELECTIONS. The division makes changes to public employee elections conducted pursuant to Code section 20.15. The division strikes language providing for retention and recertification elections and requires the public employment relations board (PERB) to cancel any such elections scheduled or in process. The division requires the PERB to consider a petition for certification of an employee organization as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit for which an employee organization was not retained and recertified as the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit regardless of the amount of time that has elapsed since the retention and recertification election, notwithstanding prior requirements prohibiting such consideration for two years. The division provides that the outcome of a certification or decertification election is determined by a majority vote of the members of the bargaining unit voting, rather than the total membership of the bargaining unit. The division provides for a runoff election if none of the choices on the ballot in a certification election receives a majority vote of the members of the bargaining unit voting. The division lowers the required percentage of support from employees in a bargaining unit required for an employee organization that did not submit a petition for certification as the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit to be listed on the ballot for a certification election from 30 percent to 10 percent. The division strikes language prohibiting the PERB from considering a petition for certification as the exclusive bargaining 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 or of the last decertification election in which an employee organization was decertified as the exclusive representative of that bargaining unit. The division prohibits the PERB from considering a petition for certification as the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit for one year after the employee organization is not certified in a certification election. The division makes additional changes relating to the scheduling of decertification elections. EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION DUES. The division strikes a prohibition on public entities authorizing or administering a deduction from the salaries or wages of its employees for membership dues to an employee organization. The division provides procedures for administering such dues deductions. PERB DUTIES. The division provides that the PERB may interpret and apply, as well as administer, Code chapter 20. The division strikes language permitting the PERB to appoint a certified shorthand reporter to report state employee grievance and discipline resolution proceedings, to contract with a vendor to conduct elections, to establish fees to cover the cost of elections, and to retain certain funds collected by the PERB as repayment receipts. STATEWIDE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS FOLLOWING A GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION YEAR. The division strikes language providing for modified collective bargaining procedures for a proposed, statewide collective bargaining agreement to become effective in the year following a general election in which the governor and certain other elected officials are elected. CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS. The division strikes language providing that certain information relating to elections conducted by the PERB is a confidential record under Code chapter 22, the state open records law. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. The division strikes a definition of “supplemental pay”. The division strikes language providing that a public employer has the right to evaluate public employees in positions within the public agency. The division strikes language providing that a public employee has the right under Code section 20.8 to exercise any right or seek any remedy provided by law, including but not limited to Code sections 70A.28 and 70A.29, Code chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and Code chapters 216 and 400. The division transfers language in Code section 20.10 prohibiting a public employee or any employee organization from negotiating or attempting 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 to Code section 20.17. The division decreases the amount of time before an employee organization decertified as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit for violating an injunction against an unlawful strike can be certified again from 24 months to 12 months. The division strikes language prohibiting voluntary contributions by individuals to political parties or candidates through payroll deductions. The division strikes a requirement that a copy of a final collective bargaining agreement be filed with the PERB by the public employer within 10 days of the agreement being entered into. The division strikes a requirement that the PERB maintain an internet site that allows searchable access to a database of collective bargaining agreements and other collective bargaining information. The division changes the period before retirement for a prohibited voluntary reduction to a nonsupervisory rank or grade by a supervisor and related ineligibility for benefits from 36 months to 6 months. The division strikes language providing that a mediator shall not be required to testify in any arbitration proceeding regarding any matters occurring in the course of a mediation. The division requires a council, board of waterworks, or other board or commission which establishes a pension and annuity retirement system pursuant to Code chapter 412 to negotiate in good faith with a certified employee organization 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. The division makes additional conforming changes. TRANSITION PROVISIONS —— DEADLINE. The division requires parties, mediators, and arbitrators engaging in any collective bargaining procedures provided for in Code chapter 20, Code 2023, who have not, before the effective date of the division, completed such procedures, to immediately terminate any such procedures in process as of the effective date of the division. The division provides that a collective bargaining agreement negotiated pursuant to such procedures in process shall not become effective. The division prohibits parties, mediators, and arbitrators from engaging in further collective bargaining procedures except as provided in the division. The division requires such parties to commence collective bargaining in accordance with Code section 20.17, as amended by the division. The division requires such parties to complete such bargaining not later than June 30, 2023, unless the parties mutually agree to a different deadline. The division requires the PERB to adopt emergency rules to implement these requirements. The division also requires the department of administrative services to adopt emergency rules to implement the provisions of the division relating to dues deductions. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY PROVISIONS. The division takes effect upon enactment. With the exception of the section of the division amending Code section 20.6, subsection 1, the division does not apply to collective bargaining agreements which have been ratified in a ratification election, for which an arbitrator has made a final determination, or which have become effective, where such events occurred before the effective date of the division. The division applies to all collective bargaining procedures provided for in Code chapter 20 occurring on and after the effective date of the division and collective bargaining agreements for which a ratification election is held, for which an arbitrator makes a final determination, or which become effective on or after the effective date of the division. DIVISION II —— EDUCATOR EMPLOYMENT MATTERS. This division makes a variety of changes relating to educator employment matters. TERMINATION OF TEACHER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS. The division makes various changes relating to the termination of teacher employment contracts. The division shortens various procedural deadlines regarding private hearings held after a superintendent recommends termination of a teacher’s employment contract. The division makes participation in such a private hearing by the superintendent, the superintendent’s designated representatives, the teacher’s immediate supervisor, the teacher, and the teacher’s representatives mandatory on the part of those individuals instead of discretionary. The division requires that the school board employ a certified shorthand reporter to keep a record of a private hearing. The division requires the school board to issue subpoenas for witnesses and evidence on behalf of the board and the teacher. The division provides for a judicial remedy if a witness appears and refuses to testify or to produce required books or papers at a private hearing. The division authorizes the superintendent and the teacher to file written briefs and arguments with the board at the conclusion of the private hearing. The division provides deadlines for determining the status of the teacher’s contract if the teacher does not request a private hearing. The division requires that the decision of the board include findings of fact and conclusions of law. The division strikes language authorizing a school board which votes to continue a teacher’s contract to issue the teacher a one-year, nonrenewable contract. The division permits a teacher to appeal the board’s determination to an adjudicator and provides procedures for such appeals. TEACHER PROBATIONARY PERIODS. The division makes various changes relating to probationary employment of teachers. The division decreases from two years to one year the length of a teacher’s probationary employment period in a school district if the teacher has successfully completed a probationary period of employment for another school district located in Iowa. The division provides that requirements for notices of termination, private hearings, and appeals applicable to nonprobationary teachers whose employment contracts are terminated are applicable to probationary teachers whose employment contracts are terminated. The division strikes alternative procedures for the termination of employment contracts of such probationary teachers, including notification procedures and the opportunity to request a private conference with the school board. EXTRACURRICULAR INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC COACH CONTRACTS. The division makes various changes relating to extracurricular interscholastic athletic coach employment contracts. The division provides that wages for such coaches shall be paid pursuant to established or negotiated supplemental pay schedules. The division provides that employment contracts of such coaches shall be continued automatically in force and effect for equivalent periods and that the termination of such contracts follows procedures similar to those used for teacher contracts. The division strikes language providing that employment contracts of such coaches may be terminated prior to their expiration for any lawful reason following an informal, private hearing before the school board. The division strikes language providing that the decision of the school board to terminate such a contract is final. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOYMENT MATTERS. The division makes various changes relating to school administrator employment matters. The division provides that the rate of compensation in an administrator’s employment contract must be on a weekly or monthly basis. The division strikes language authorizing a school board to issue a temporary employment contract to an administrator for a period of up to nine months. The division strikes language authorizing a school board to issue a one-year, nonrenewable employment contract and instead authorizes a school board considering the termination of an administrator’s contract and the administrator to mutually agree to enter into such a contract. The division decreases the probationary employment period for administrators from three years to two years and authorizes a school board to waive the probationary period for an administrator who previously served a probationary period in another school district. The division strikes language providing that a hearing before an administrative law judge requested by an administrator whose employment contract a school board is considering terminating shall be a private hearing. The division reduces certain procedural deadlines relating to such hearings. The division strikes language providing that any witnesses for the parties at the hearing shall be sequestered. The division requires that the decision of the board include findings of fact and conclusions of law. The division strikes language authorizing a school board which votes to continue an administrator’s contract to issue the administrator a one-year, nonrenewable contract. INTENSIVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. The division makes various changes relating to intensive assistance programs. The division strikes language providing that a teacher who has previously participated 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. The division strikes language providing that 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. The division strikes language providing that 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 initiate procedures to terminate the teacher’s employment contract immediately or at the end of the school year or may continue the teacher’s contract for a period not to exceed one year on a nonrenewable basis and without the right to a private hearing. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO EDUCATOR EMPLOYMENT MATTERS. The division strikes language authorizing a school board to issue a temporary employment contract to a teacher for a period of up to six months. The division strikes language providing that just cause for which a teacher may be discharged at any time during the contract year under Code section 279.27 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 of a final written decision and finding of fact after a disciplinary proceeding. The division either authorizes or requires a school board and its certified bargaining representative to negotiate various matters pursuant to Code chapter 20. The division makes additional conforming changes. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY PROVISIONS. The division takes effect upon enactment. The division applies to employment contracts of school employees entered into pursuant to Code chapter 279 on and after the effective date of the division. The division does not apply to collective bargaining agreements pursuant to Code chapter 20 which have been ratified in a ratification election, for which an arbitrator has made a final determination, or which have become effective, where such events occurred before the effective date of the division. The division applies to all collective bargaining procedures provided for in Code chapter 20 occurring on and after the effective date of the division and collective bargaining agreements pursuant to Code chapter 20 for which a ratification election is held, for which an arbitrator makes a final determination, or which become effective on or after the effective date of the division. DIVISION III —— PERSONNEL RECORDS AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS. This division makes changes relating to public employee personnel records and settlement agreements. PERSONNEL RECORDS. The division strikes language providing that certain information relating to the discipline, resignation, discharge, or demotion of a public employee is a public record and requiring notice to affected employees. PERSONNEL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS. The division also strikes language prohibiting a personnel settlement agreement between the state and a state executive branch employee that contains confidentiality or nondisclosure provisions that attempt to prevent the disclosure of the agreement. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY PROVISIONS. The division takes effect upon enactment. The division applies to requests for records submitted on or after the effective date of the division. DIVISION IV —— CITY CIVIL SERVICE REQUIREMENTS. This division makes a variety of changes relating to city civil service requirements under Code chapter 400. SENIORITY RIGHTS. The division strikes language permitting a city council to extinguish statutory seniority rights of all city 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, unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement. The division reestablishes any such rights so extinguished, including accrual of seniority during the period of extinguishment. ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS —— GROUNDS AND PROCEDURES. The division provides that adverse employment action may be taken against a city civil service employee for neglect of duty, disobedience, misconduct, or failure to properly perform the person’s duties. The division strikes language permitting such action to be taken due to any act 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 Code 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. The division strikes language providing that the scope of review for an appeal to district court from a civil service commission shall be limited to de novo appellate review without a trial or additional evidence, instead providing that the appeal shall be a trial de novo as an equitable action. DIMINUTION OF EMPLOYEES. The division provides that a diminution of city employees by a city council can only be implemented when the public interest requires. The division permits a diminution to be carried out either by abolishing an office and removing the employee from the employee’s classification or grade thereunder, or reducing the number of employees in any classification or grade by suspending the necessary number. The division provides for such removal to be carried out based on seniority and requires that employees so removed be placed on a preferred list for at least three years for purposes of appointments or promotions made during that period to the person’s former duties. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. The division makes changes in terminology relating to adverse employment actions for city civil service employees. The division makes additional conforming changes. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY PROVISIONS. The division takes effect upon enactment. The division applies to employment actions taken on or after the effective date of the division. DIVISION V —— HEALTH INSURANCE MATTERS. This division strikes a requirement that a public employer shall offer health insurance to all permanent, full-time public employees employed by the public employer. EFFECTIVE DATE. The division takes effect upon enactment.

Committee Categories

Liz Bennett (D)*,  Tony Bisignano (D)*,  Nate Boulton (D)*,  Claire Celsi (D)*,  Molly Donahue (D)*,  Bill Dotzler (D)*,  Eric Giddens (D)*,  Pam Jochum (D)*,  Izaah Knox (D)*,  Janet Petersen (D)*,  Herman Quirmbach (D)*,  Todd Taylor (D)*,  Sarah Trone Garriott (D)*,  Zach Wahls (D)*,  Janice Weiner (D)*,  Cindy Winckler (D)*, 

Subcommittee: Driscoll, Kraayenbrink, and T. Taylor. S.J. 540. (on 03/07/2023)

Official Document