Iowa § 20.3 - 20.3 Definitions.

§ 20.3. 20.3 Definitions.

When used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. “Arbitration” means the procedure whereby the parties involved in an impasse submit their differences to a third party for a final and binding decision or as provided in this chapter. 2. “Board” means the employment appeal board established under section 10A.601. 3. a. “Confidential employee” means any public employee who works in the personnel offices of a public employer or who has access to information subject to use by the public employer in negotiating or who works in a close continuing working relationship with public officers or representatives associated with negotiating on behalf of the public employer. b. “Confidential employee” also includes the personal secretary of any of the following: (1) Any elected official or person appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office. (2) A member of any board or commission. (3) The administrative officer, director, or chief executive officer of a public employer or major division thereof. (4) The deputy or first assistant of any of the persons described in subparagraphs (1) through (3). 4. “Employee organization” means an organization of any kind in which public employees participate and which exists for the primary purpose of representing employees in their employment relations. 5. “Governing body” means the board, council, or commission, whether elected or appointed, of a political subdivision of this state, including school districts and other special purpose districts, which determines the policies for the operation of the political subdivision. 6. “Impasse” means the failure of a public employer and the employee organization to reach agreement in the course of negotiations. 7. “Mediation” means assistance by an impartial third party to reconcile an impasse between the public employer and the employee organization through interpretation, suggestion, and advice. 8. “Professional employee” means any one of the following: a. Any employee engaged in work to which all of the following apply: (1) The work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical work. (2) The work involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance. (3) The work is of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time. (4) The work requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as distinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes. b. Any employee to whom all of the following apply: (1) The employee has completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and study described in paragraph “a”, subparagraph (4). (2) The employee is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person to qualify the employee to become a professional employee as defined in paragraph “a”. 9. “Public employee” means any individual employed by a public employer, except individuals exempted under the provisions of section 20.4. 10. “Public employer” means the state of Iowa, its boards, commissions, agencies, departments, and its political subdivisions including school districts and other special purpose districts. 11. “Public safety employee” means a public employee who is employed as one of the following: a. A sheriff’s regular deputy. Wed Dec 10 22:13:11 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 20.3 (29, 0) §20.3, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS (COLLECTIVE BARGAINING) 2 b. A marshal or police officer of a city, township, or special-purpose district or authority who is a member of a paid police department. c. A member, except a non-peace officer member, of the division of state patrol, narcotics enforcement, state fire marshal, or criminal investigation, including but not limited to a gaming enforcement officer, who has been duly appointed by the department of public safety in accordance with section 80.15. d. A conservation officer or park ranger as authorized by section 456A.13. e. A permanent or full-time fire fighter of a city, township, or special-purpose district or authority who is a member of a paid fire department. f. A peace officer designated by the department of transportation under section 321.477 who is subject to mandated law enforcement training. 12. “Strike” means a public employee’s refusal, in concerted action with others, to report to duty, or a willful absence from the employee’s position, or a stoppage of work by the employee, or the employee’s abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in the conditions, compensation, rights, privileges, or obligations of public employment. 13. “Supplemental pay” means a payment of moneys or other thing of value that is in addition to compensation received pursuant to any other permitted subject of negotiation specified in section 20.9 and is related to the employment relationship. [C75, 77, 79, 81, §20.3] 2010 Acts, ch 1165, §3, 4; 2017 Acts, ch 2, §1, 26, 27; 2018 Acts, ch 1026, §10; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §172 Referred to in §8.5, 20.32, 22.7(69), 70A.19, 70A.41, 80.45A, 185.34, 235A.15, 400.18, 400.28, 602.11108 Wed Dec 10 22:13:11 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 20.3 (29, 0)