AbsentEase
Iowa sick leave law & call-off rules
Iowa has no sick leave mandate and preempts local ones — but once your handbook promises PTO, unused accrued time becomes collectible wages under Chapter 91A unless the policy explicitly says otherwise. Iowa courts also take handbooks seriously as implied contracts. Here is what applies in 2026.
Iowa at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None — local mandates preempted (HF 295, 2017) |
|---|---|
| PTO at termination | Policy-promised vacation is Chapter 91A wages unless the policy clearly forfeits it |
| Voting leave | Up to 2 consecutive hours paid (reduced from 3 in 2021), written advance request |
| Employment relationship | At-will; handbook implied-contract and public-policy exceptions |
| Final paycheck deadline | Next regular payday, fired or quit |
| Jury duty | Protected, unpaid |
| Meal & rest breaks | None for adults |
Is paid sick leave required in Iowa?
No. Iowa has no sick leave requirement, and the 2017 preemption law (HF 295) bars cities and counties from mandating benefits. Your written policy plus the federal floor governs.
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
FLSA overtime and attendance bonuses
A cash bonus promised in advance for good attendance counts as wages under federal overtime law. It has to be added into the regular rate for the weeks it covers, so any of those weeks over 40 hours owes extra overtime on the bonus, usually recalculated after the bonus is paid. State overtime law can add to this, but can't go below it. See how attendance bonuses change overtime pay.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Iowa
Iowa is at-will with two familiar carve-outs — public policy (workers' comp retaliation, jury duty) and implied contracts from handbooks, which means an attendance policy that promises progressive steps can bind you to them. Older handbooks also overstate voting leave (it shrank from 3 hours to 2 in 2021) — worth a sweep. Wage disputes go to the Iowa Division of Labor, and the written policy plus the absence record decide them. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system keeps the record half automatic.
After a no call, no show termination in Iowa
| Does Iowa law define job abandonment? | No wage statute defines job abandonment, but Iowa's unemployment rule sets a three-day threshold: a claimant who 'was absent for three days without giving notice to employer in violation of company rule' is presumed to have voluntarily quit without good cause attributable to the employer (871 Iowa Admin. Code 24.18(4)); a companion rule treats an unreported absence of three working days or more as a quit and two days or less as a discharge (871 IAC 24.19(15)(b)). (871 Iowa Admin. Code 24.18(4), 24.19(15)(b), 24.24(6); Iowa Code § 96.5(1), § 96.5(2)(d)(9)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | When employment is suspended or terminated, the employer must pay all wages earned up to that time, less lawful deductions, not later than the next regular payday for the pay period in which the wages were earned (per § 91A.3); any commission-credit difference is due within 30 days. Liquidated damages for late payment: 5% of the unpaid wages per day (excluding Sundays, legal holidays and the first seven days after the regular payday), capped at the amount of the unpaid wages (§ 91A.2(6)). (Iowa Code § 91A.4; § 91A.2(6)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | Same rule: § 91A.4 applies whenever employment 'is suspended or terminated' without distinguishing who ended it or whether notice was given, so a quit with or without notice is due by the next regular payday for the pay period in which the wages were earned. (Iowa Code § 91A.4) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | No state requirement; owed only if your written policy promises it. 'Wages' includes vacation, holiday, sick leave and severance payments 'which are due an employee under an agreement with the employer or under a policy of the employer' (§ 91A.2(7)(b)), and § 91A.4 requires pro rata vacation where the policy establishes pro rata accrual, so vacation promised by policy or agreement is collectible as wages at separation while a policy that does not make vacation due at separation controls. (Iowa Code § 91A.2(7)(b); § 91A.4 (last sentence)) |
| Unemployment claims | Voluntary quitting without good cause attributable to the employer disqualifies (Iowa Code § 96.5(1)); discharge for misconduct disqualifies until the claimant earns ten times the weekly benefit amount, and 'misconduct' expressly includes 'excessive unexcused tardiness or absenteeism' (§ 96.5(2)(d)(9)); the rule adds that excessive unexcused absenteeism is misconduct 'except for illness or other reasonable grounds so long as properly reported to the employer' (871 IAC 24.24(6)). |
If a state agency later treats a "resignation" as a discharge, the discharge deadline governs, so pay by the earlier of the two when in doubt. Document each step with the no call, no show write-up and termination letter templates, which fill in Iowa's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits Iowa
Start from our no call, no show policy guide and free template, or let the generator turn nine quick questions into a signature-ready policy with Iowa already selected so the protected-leave section covers the federal FMLA and ADA rules that still apply here.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired or laid off | Next regular payday | Iowa Code 91A.4 |
| Employee quits | Same — next regular payday | Iowa Code 91A.4 |
| Unused vacation / PTO | Wages when due under your policy — use-it-or-lose-it and no-payout clauses hold only if clearly stated | Iowa Code 91A.2 |
| Enforcement | Iowa Division of Labor wage claims or court | — |
Iowa enforces the policy as drafted — silence converts balances into wages. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Iowa employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voting | Yes — paid | Up to 2 consecutive hours if the employee lacks 2 free hours while polls are open; written request in advance; employer sets the time |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | Job-protected (Iowa Code ch. 607A) |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus Iowa National Guard protections |
| Sick leave | No | Whatever your written policy provides |
| Meal & rest breaks | No | None for adults; minors under 16 only |
The Iowa employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.