Iowa Employment Law

Employment law is a broad category that covers many different possible situations between an employer and an employee. When an employee believes they have been treated unfairly by their employer or another employee, there may be a case under one of these common employment law areas:

Employment Discrimination 
Employment discrimination occurs when something negative (such as not being hired, being fired, or not receiving a raise or promotion) happens to an employee because they are a member of certain group of people known as a protected classification. The protected classifications are nationality, race, sex, gender, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, and, under Iowa state law, sexual orientation. Please visit our Employment Discrimination page for additional information.

Workplace Harassment 
Employers can be liable for damages when they allow employees to harass other employees based upon nationality, race, sex, gender, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, or, under Iowa law, sexual orientation. There are various types of harassment, and complex factors that may influence a harassment suit. For more detailed information regarding harassment and hostile work environments, please visit our web pages on those topics.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The Family Medical Leave Act guarantees eligible employees up to12 weeks of unpaid leave due to a serious health issue, either their own or a family member's. Employees are also guaranteed to be returned to their original position when they return as well as continued benefits. Not all companies and situations are covered by FMLA, so it’s important to understand your rights and situation. For more detailed information regarding your rights under the FMLA, please visit our Family and Medical Leave Act page.

Iowa Wage Law 
Multiple overlapping federal and state wage and hour laws govern your employer's wage practices. Our courtroom expertise includes claims asserting minimum wage violations, failure to timely pay full compensation, failure to timely and fully pay all earned wages upon termination, failure to pay earned commissions or bonuses, and unlawful wage deductions or withholdings. Please visit our Iowa Wage Law page for more specific information regarding wage payment claims.

Wrongful Termination Law 
Iowa is an employment-at-will state, allowing Iowa employers to terminate employees without cause, explanation, or notice in most instances. But there are strict and clear state and federal laws and court decisions protecting employees from wrongful termination in certain circumstances. For example, you may have a wrongful termination claim if you suspect you were fired in retaliation for whistleblowing, or because of FMLA participation, or several other reasons. We've offered additional information on our page dedicated to wrongful termination law.

Iowa Unemployment Benefits
Employees seeking unemployment benefits have the right to be represented by a lawyer during the process. You may find yourself seeking unemployment benefits for a number of different reasons, such as losing your job or getting a reduction of hours. The process can be very bewildering and scary, and we try to make it a little less confusing for our clients.

See more of our Iowa employment law areas of expertise:

Erbe Law Firm 
2501 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
(515) 229-0202

Erbe Law Firm has proudly served clients throughout Iowa since 2005 from our Des Moines law firm. We look forward to hearing from you to see whether we can do the same for you.