At-Will Employment in Iowa

Many people believe that because Iowa is an at-will state, employees have no rights and can be terminated for any reason at all. Luckily, this is not true. With experience handling all types of employment law cases, we at Higgins Law Firm, PLLC, understand that it’s essential to combine education with strong representation.

Understanding Iowa Employment Law with the Help of an Attorney

Iowa is commonly referred to as an “at-will state,” which means that unless an employment contract details the duration of the employment relationship and/or under what circumstances an employee can be fired (for example, “good cause”), an employer can pretty much come up with any reason it wants to terminate an employee — even if the reason is for a bad cause or no cause at all.

Consider this example: An employer can terminate an employee because it doesn’t agree with the employee’s taste in music or, perhaps more realistically, an employer can terminate an employee the first time the employee shows up late for work, even if it only happened once. Furthermore, an employer generally doesn’t even have to tell an employee why he or she is being terminated or provide any set notice of termination.

The Balance of Power

Even though Iowa’s status as an at-will state means that employers have great latitude when choosing who to hire and who to fire, the Iowa General Assembly, Congress and the courts have restricted an employer’s discretion in important ways in order to protect employees from unlawful discrimination and/or retaliation.

State and federal laws make it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee (or applicant) based on certain personal characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, creed, sexual orientation, sexual identity and disability. What this means is that it is illegal for an employer to fail to hire, terminate, treat differently or harass an employee based on the employee’s protected characteristic.

The Iowa Supreme Court has also protected employees by ruling that it is illegal for an employer to terminate an employee if the termination would frustrate a well-recognized public policy. This means that an employer cannot terminate an employee for simply exercising his or her rights. For example, it is illegal for an employer to terminate an employee who misses work due to jury duty. Similarly, an employer cannot terminate an employee who sought workers’ compensation benefits for an on-the-job injury. Additionally, statutes prohibit an employee from facing discrimination or being terminated after the employee complained about unlawful discrimination or harassment.

We Offer Clients Strong Legal Advocacy

Every employee in Iowa has a right to work in a discrimination-free environment. Work is hard enough without having to deal with stereotypes, bias, sexual harassment and/or different treatment based on a protected personal characteristic.

Call us at Higgins Law Office, PLLC, in Des Moines at 515-619-9148 or send us an email via our online contact form to speak with a lawyer and discuss your case in confidence.