55.1 - LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR SERVICE IN ELECTIVE OFFICE.



        55.1  LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR SERVICE IN ELECTIVE
      OFFICE.
         1.  A person who is elected to a municipal, county, state, or
      federal office shall, upon written application to the employer of
      that person, be granted a leave of absence from regular employment to
      serve in that office except where prohibited by the federal law.  The
      leave of absence may be granted without pay, except that if a
      salaried employee takes leave without pay from regular employment for
      a portion of a pay period, the employee's salaried compensation for
      that pay period shall be reduced by the ratio of the number of days
      of leave taken to the total number of days in the pay period.  The
      leave of absence shall be granted without loss of net credited
      service and benefits earned.  This section shall not be construed to
      require an employer to pay pension, health, or other benefits during
      the leave of absence to an employee taking a leave of absence under
      this section.
         2.  A leave of absence for a person regularly employed pursuant to
      chapter 8A, subchapter IV, is subject to section 8A.416.
         3.  An employee shall not be prohibited from returning to regular
      employment before the period expires for which the leave of absence
      was granted.  This section applies only to employers which employ
      twenty or more full-time persons.  The leave of absence granted by
      this section does not apply to an elective office held by the
      employee prior to the election.
         4.  Temporary substitute teachers and teachers hired on a
      temporary basis to replace teachers who have been granted leaves of
      absence pursuant to this section are not subject to the provisions of
      chapter 279 relating to the termination of continuing contracts.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         84 Acts, ch 1233, § 1; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §153; 2008 Acts, ch
      1171, §58, 59
         Multiple elective offices, see §39.11, 39.12, 441.17(1)