With Veterans Day just days away, we have received even more inquiries in response to our first two blogs on Iowa Code Section 91A.5A.  We previously provided a link to Iowa Code Section 35.1 as to which employees actually qualify as “veterans” under the new Iowa law granting veterans the day off.  Many employers did not see the footnote at the bottom of the Iowa General Assembly’s page, which says:    

For future amendment to subsection 2 effective July 1, 2010, see 2009 Acts, ch 164, §1, 6, 7.

A review of 2009 Acts, Chapter 164 shows that Iowa Code Section 35.1(2)(c) now includes in the definition of “Veteran”: “A resident of this state who served on active federal service, other than training, in the armed forces of the United States and who was discharged under honorable conditions.”  So, any Iowa resident who was honorably discharged from federal service (not just training) is a covered “veteran.” 

We have also received questions about employers and employees in border states, such as residents in Iowa who work in Nebraska, or residents of Illinois who work in Iowa.  As noted previously, this new law is included in Iowa Code Chapter 91A, the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law.  Section 91A.2(4) defines “employer” as “a person, as defined in chapter 4, who in this state employs for wages a natural person.”  The Iowa Supreme Court has held that the statute’s focus is not on an individual employee’s state of residence or an employer’s home office but whether the employee is “employed in this state for wages by an employer.”  Runyon v. Kubota Tractor Corp., 653 N.W.2d 582, 585 (Iowa 2002).  In Runyon, the plaintiff did work out of his home in Missouri, but transacted substantial business and routinely performed services on behalf of Kubota within Iowa’s borders. Because his dispute with Kubota involved employment-related services rendered in Iowa for wages, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s application of the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law.  Id. at 586.

Again, this means both Iowa employers and employers in neighboring states who have employees working in Iowa are subject to the provisions of the Iowa Veterans Day Law.