What’s New in 2026
Reductions to the unemployment insurance taxable wage base and tax rate
Labor Law Posters
Federal labor law posters
State labor law posters
Wage and Hour Laws
Minimum wage
Iowa’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour—the same as the federal minimum wage. Iowa’s minimum wage hasn’t increased since it was introduced in 2008.
The minimum wage doesn’t apply to small retail and service businesses with annual gross revenue under $300,000, with exceptions for certain types of companies, including dry cleaners, construction businesses, and hospitals.
Other exceptions to the minimum wage include:
- Administrative and supervisory employees paid a salary.
- Employers in the first 90 days of employment (employers can pay them $6.35 per hour).
Tipped minimum wage
The tipped minimum wage in Iowa is $4.35 per hour. Employers can pay employees this as long as their wages plus tips add up to $7.25 per hour.
The tipped minimum wage applies only to workers who earn at least $30 in tips per month.
Overtime laws
Iowa doesn’t govern overtime hours and payment, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies. Under the FLSA, employers must pay nonexempt employees 1.5 times their regular pay rate for any hours worked over 40 per week.
Employees who are exempt from FLSA overtime rules include:
- Executive, administrative, and professional employees earning at least $684 per week.
- Highly compensated employees with a minimum salary of $684 per week and total annual compensation of $107,432 or more.
- Outside sales employees.
- Computer employees earning at least $684 per week (or $27.63 per hour).
- Casual babysitters.
- Railroad and air carrier employees.
- Live-in domestic service workers.
Pro Tip
Simplify wage compliance and ensure accurate overtime calculations with Connecteam’s time clock app. Automatically track employee hours, breaks, and overtime, so payroll becomes stress-free.
Start Tracking Time Accurately Today!
Break Laws
Meal and rest breaks
No Iowa laws require employers to provide adult employees with meal and rest breaks. Exceptions to this include where a union contract or regulatory agency requires breaks.
If an employer is subject to the FLSA, any breaks of 20 minutes or less must be paid.
Workers under 16 who work at least 5 hours a day must have a 30-minute break.
Recordkeeping Requirements
Iowa employers must keep payroll records for at least 3 years. Payroll records include details of:
- The number of hours worked.
- The amount of wages earned.
- Any deductions from employees’ wages.
Pro Tip
Effortlessly maintain accurate employee records with Connecteam’s employee document management feature. Keep employee hours, pay rates, and documentation compliant, organized, and instantly accessible.
Keep Your Employee Records Safe!
Scheduling Laws
There are currently no predictive scheduling laws in Iowa requiring employers to notify employees of schedules in advance or to compensate them for short-notice schedule changes.
Pro Tip
Stay ahead of scheduling laws and effortlessly manage shifts, time-off requests, and real-time updates with Connecteam’s employee scheduling tool.
Employee Compensation and Benefits
Reporting time pay
There are no reporting time laws in Iowa requiring employers to pay workers who report to shifts but are sent home before working. Employees must be paid for time worked.
Payday frequency and method
Iowa employers must pay employees on regular paydays—either monthly, semimonthly, or biweekly—unless a written agreement between the employer and employee says otherwise.
Employers must give employees written notice of these regular paydays when they’re hired.
Wages can be paid in cash, check, or—at the employee’s request—by direct deposit.
Paystub requirements
Iowa law requires employers to provide employees with a statement every payday detailing:
- The number of hours worked.
- The amount of wages earned.
- Any deductions made by the employer.
Employers can provide employees with hard copies or electronic pay statements. Employees can ask the employer in writing to provide hard copies or to allow them to access and print their electronic pay statements at work.
Workers can also ask their employer to give them a written explanation of how their wages and deductions are calculated. Employers must provide this information within 10 days of a request.
Wage deductions and garnishments
Employers can make specific deductions from employees’ wages. These include:
- Legally required deductions—for instance, taxes.
- Deductions that benefit the employee with their written authorization.
- Wage garnishments.
Iowa employers are prohibited from deducting wages for damages to property, tips, and the cost of personal protective equipment. They also can’t deduct wages for cash shortages or lost or stolen property unless the employee accepts it.
Under Iowa law, garnishments are limited to 25% of an individual’s disposable earnings or the amount by which their disposable earnings are more than 30 times the federal minimum wage—whichever amount is less.
There are also limits on the total amount each creditor can garnish each year. For example, if a worker earns less than $12,000, a creditor can garnish a maximum of $250. If a worker earns between $35,000 and $49,999, a creditor can garnish a maximum of $2,000.
Different limits apply to consumer credit transactions. Debtors can’t garnish more than 25% of an individual’s disposable earnings or the amount by which their disposable earnings are more than 40 times the federal minimum wage—whichever amount is less.
Garnishments for unpaid federal taxes, student loans, and child support are also limited under federal law.
Final paycheck laws
Employees must be paid their final paycheck on their next regular payday, regardless of whether they quit or are terminated.
Workers’ Compensation
Most Iowa employers must have workers’ compensation insurance, either via an insurance company or self-insuring.
Workers’ compensation provides benefits to employees who are injured at work or develop a work-related illness.
Most Iowa workers are covered by workers’ compensation, with limited exceptions—for example, for independent contractors.
The Workers’ Compensation Division (WCD) of the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing oversees workers’ compensation in Iowa.
Workers may be able to access these types of workers’ compensation benefits:
- Medical: Covers reasonable treatment expenses related to the work injury.
- Temporary total disability: Offers wage replacement for workers completely unable to work after 3 days off work until the worker returns to work or they’re well enough to work in a similar role (additional benefits may apply for workers off more than 14 days).
- Temporary partial disability: Offers partial wage replacement for cases where a worker must take a lower-paying role due to injury-related restrictions.
- Healing period: Compensates workers recovering from an injury that leads to a permanent impairment.
- Permanent partial disability: Compensates workers who have permanent injuries or physical restrictions or can’t earn the same wages as before.
- Permanent total disability: Provides ongoing wage replacement for cases where the worker is unable to ever return to work due to their injury.
- Second injury: Applies to cases where a worker sustains a second injury to a foot, leg, hand, arm, or eye after suffering a permanent injury to another limb.
- Vocational rehabilitation: Can provide limited financial support to a worker who participates in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program.
- Death: Covers funeral expenses and benefits for surviving spouses and dependent children.
To access benefits, workers have 90 days to notify employers of their work injury. If the injury leads to the worker having more than 3 days off work, permanent injury, or death, employers must file a First Report of Injury form with the WCD. They have 4 days to do so.
If an employer or insurer denies a workers’ compensation claim, the individual can appeal to the WCD and seek a hearing.
Unemployment Insurance
Employers fund unemployment (UI) benefits in Iowa by paying unemployment insurance taxes into the state’s UI Trust Fund.
In 2026, the taxable base wage is $20,400. UI tax rates vary from 0.0% to 5.4% and are updated annually. Employers are informed of their rate by mail each November.
This enables individuals who lose their jobs through no fault of their own to receive UI benefits. To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be able and available to work.
- Have received wages from a covered employer in at least 2 quarters of their base period (their base period is the first 4 quarters of the last 5 quarters before an applicant files their claim).
- Meet specific wage requirements during their base period.
- Be looking for work.
Individuals can file for UI benefits via the new IowaWORKS website or at a local IowaWORKS Center. Claimants must provide information, such as:
- Their Social Security number.
- Contact details.
- Pay checks or W-2 forms.
- Details of their previous employment.
The amount of benefits individuals receive depends on their earnings during their base period and how many dependents they have. The current maximum weekly benefit is $763 (this is adjusted each year in July).
Individuals may receive unemployment benefits until they reach their Maximum Benefit Amount—typically up to 16 weeks of benefits based on wage credits accrued during the base period—or until the end of the benefit year, whichever comes first.
Workplace Rights and Protections
Discrimination and harassment
In Iowa, employers with 4 or more employees can’t discriminate against job seekers or employees based on the following characteristics:
- Age
- Race
- Creed
- Color
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- National origin
- Religion
- Disability (physical and mental)
The law specifically prohibits wage discrimination based on the above characteristics.
An individual who believes they’ve been subject to discrimination can file a complaint with the Iowa Office of Civil Rights (IOCR). The deadline to do this is 300 days from the date of the alleged discrimination.
The IOCR reviews the complaint and collects more information from the complainant and employer. Both parties must complete a questionnaire about the allegations. They have 30 days to respond after receiving a questionnaire from the IOCR.
Sixty days after filing their complaint, a complainant can request a “right to sue” letter from the IOCR and file a lawsuit against the employer. They have 90 days after receiving the letter to do so. This closes the IOCR complaint. Complainants can’t file a lawsuit unless they first file a complaint with the IOCR.
Where the complainant doesn’t request a “right to sue” letter, the IOCR investigator reviews the matter to decide whether there’s a reasonable possibility that discrimination occurred.
If there’s not, the IOCR closes the matter. The complainant can ask for this decision to be reconsidered.
If there’s a reasonable possibility that discrimination occurred, the IOCR offers the parties mediation to resolve the matter without a formal investigation.
If mediation is unsuccessful, the matter proceeds to an investigation. Based on the investigation, the IOCR investigator makes a recommendation to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who reviews the case and issues a final determination.
If the ALJ finds no probable cause for discrimination, the complainant can’t request a “right to sue” letter.
Where the ALJ finds probable cause, the IOCR conciliates the matter to reach a settlement between the parties. If conciliation is unsuccessful, the matter may proceed to a public hearing.
The IOCR and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have a work-share agreement. If someone files a complaint with the IOCR related to a characteristic also protected by federal law, the complaint is cross-filed with the EEOC.
Pro Tip
Ensure your employees have instant access to harassment and discrimination policies with Connecteam’s online knowledge center. Promote a safe, informed workplace environment.
Leave Laws
| ❌ Family and Medical Leave | Iowa doesn’t have its own family and medical leave law. However, many employees in the state are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This law gives eligible workers up to 12 weeks each year of job-protected, unpaid leave:
Workers are eligible for FMLA leave if they’re at a workplace with at least 50 employees in a 75-mile radius and have worked for the employer for 1 year and at least 1,250 hours. |
| ❌ Paid Sick Leave | There are no paid sick leave laws in Iowa. |
| ❌ Paid Family Leave | There are no laws requiring employers to provide paid family leave. Eligible employees may access unpaid leave under the FMLA for this purpose. |
| ❌ Pregnancy and Parental Leave | There are no specific maternity or paternity leave laws in Iowa. Employees may access unpaid leave under the FMLA for these reasons. Under Iowa’s anti-discrimination law, employers with 4 or more employees must treat pregnancy-related disabilities (including those related to miscarriage and abortion) the same as any other temporary disability—for example, for sick leave. If employees with a pregnancy-related disability don’t have leave available under another policy, employers must let them take leave for the duration of their disability or 8 weeks (whichever is less). Employees must provide timely notice to access this leave, and employers can require a medical certificate. |
| ❌ Vacation and Personal Leave | Iowa employers aren’t required to provide vacation or personal leave to employees. Employers who choose to do so should ensure the leave complies with any relevant policies or employment agreements. |
Other mandatory leave
| Military Leave | Employees can’t be fired for taking leave to serve as a member of the National Guard or other armed forces. This leave doesn’t have to be paid for private employees, but it’s job-protected—employees must be able to return to the same or equivalent position. |
| Jury Duty Leave | Employers can’t retaliate against employees for taking time off to serve on a jury. |
| Witness Leave | Employers can’t discriminate against or penalize employees who take time off to attend court as witnesses, plaintiffs, or defendants in a civil proceeding. |
| Voting Leave | Employers must provide workers up to 2 hours of paid leave to vote. The exception is when employees have 2 hours of non-work time during the day to vote. Employees must make a written request to use this leave before Election Day. |
| Emergency Response Leave | Private employers can’t terminate employees for being late to work or taking leave to act as a volunteer firefighter, reserve peace officer, or emergency medical care provider. This leave doesn’t have to be paid. Employees must notify their employer that they are a volunteer emergency services provider. Employers can also request documentation to support the leave. |
Pro Tip
Connecteam’s time-off management tool simplifies leave tracking, approvals, and compliance, making managing sick leave and PTO effortless.
Manage Time-Off Requests Easily!
Child Labor Laws
Under Iowa’s child labor laws, minors must be at least 14 years old to work. Some limited exceptions exist, such as children working in a home before or after school or while on vacation, or children working for their parents.
Work permits are no longer required.
Employees under 16 who work at least 5 hours in a shift must have a 30-minute break.
These are the restrictions in Iowa on the types of work minors can do and their work hours:
| 14- and 15-year-olds | 16- and 17-year-olds | |
| When school is in session | Limited to working:
*Employers should note that federal law has stricter limits. | No state restrictions on work hours |
| June 1 to Labor Day | Limited to working:
*Employers should note that federal law has stricter limits. | |
| Prohibited types of work | Iowa’s child labor laws provide a list of activities 14-year-old employees can do, such as:
According to these laws, approved work activities for 15-year-olds include:
14- and 15-year-olds can’t work in various settings, including:
| Minors are generally prohibited from working in hazardous settings, including:
Exceptions are made under Senate File 542 for minors participating in approved work-based learning programs. 16- and 17-year-olds can only serve alcohol under specific conditions. A complete list of prohibited occupations for minors in Iowa is available here. The federal FLSA imposes more restrictions on employers covered by it. |
Workplace Safety and Health
Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) operates a state workplace safety and health plan that covers most private employers.
Iowa’s safety and health laws generally adopt federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, with some additional standards for certain workers and risks.
Employer obligations include:
- Providing employees with a safe workplace free from known hazards.
- Complying with all OSHA standards, rules, and regulations.
- Providing employees with the necessary safety equipment.
- Displaying an OSHA poster in the workplace.
- Keeping a log of any workplace injuries and illnesses (this generally applies only to certain employers with 10 or more employees).
- Reporting any workplace deaths within 8 hours and any incidents resulting in inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or the loss of an eye within 24 hours (they can do this by filing an incident report form or calling IOSHA).
Iowa’s safety and health laws give employees the right to work in a safe environment and protect them from employer retaliation for filing a complaint with IOSHA or assisting investigators.
Employees who believe a workplace has violated a safety or health standard can report the employer to IOSHA for investigation. Employees can also contact IOSHA informally online to ask for information and advice.
The federal OSHA deals with retaliation (whistleblower) complaints.
Labor Union Regulations
Iowa is a right-to-work state, meaning union membership is voluntary. Employers can’t force employees to join a union or pay union fees as a condition of their employment.
State law protects public employees’ right to organize, join unions, and bargain collectively.
The federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) applies to most private sector workers in Iowa. Under the NLRA, employees have the right to:
- Form and join unions.
- Refuse to join a union.
- Engage in concerted activity—where 2 or more non-union members work together regarding employment conditions.
Employment Contracts and Severance
Employment contract laws
Iowa has at-will employment. Employers or employees can terminate the employment agreement at any time, for any legal reason or no reason. An employment contract replaces the default at-will employment position.
Like many states, noncompete agreements are enforceable in Iowa if they’re reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate business interest.
Noncompetes can’t be included in contracts with mental health professionals and individuals hired through healthcare employment agencies. In the last few years, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to change Iowa state law to narrowly restrict or ban the use of noncompetes.
Severance pay
Severance pay isn’t mandatory in Iowa.
Additional State-Specific Employment Laws
| Workplace drug testing | Employers are allowed to test candidates and employees for drugs and alcohol, but must follow strict testing procedures. These include treating the time required for testing as work time and creating and providing a written policy to employees. |
| Mass layoffs | The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to give advance notice of plant closures or mass layoffs. Under Iowa’s mini-WARN law, employers with at least 25 employees must give their workforce 30 days’ notice of closures or mass layoffs. |
| Mini-COBRA law | Iowa’s mini-COBRA law applies to employers with 2–19 employees. The federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) ensures that employee health coverage continues after certain events, such as job loss or reduced work hours. This law applies only to employers with 20 or more employees. Iowa’s mini-COBRA law applies to employers with 2 to 19 employees. |
Legal Resources for Employers and Employees
Key state government departments with links to labor law information for employers and employees include:
- Iowa Workforce Development
- Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing
- Iowa Office of Civil Rights
The Iowa Labor Center offers various publications and resources on workers’ rights, as does the People’s Law Library.
Iowa Legal Aid also has various employment law articles. Employees may also be eligible for individualized legal advice and assistance.
Disclaimer
The information presented on this website about labor laws in Iowa is a summary for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. However, laws and regulations regularly change and may vary depending on individual circumstances. While we have made every effort to ensure the information provided is up to date and reliable, we cannot guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or applicability to your specific situation. Therefore, we strongly recommend that readers seek guidance from their legal department or a qualified attorney to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Please note that we cannot be held liable for any actions taken or not taken based on the information presented on this website.