Iowa Admin. Code r. 495-5.2

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 10, November 13, 2024

Rule 495-5.2 - Coverage treatment for specific employee classifications

Employment as defined in Iowa Code chapter 97B is not synonymous with IPERS membership. Some classes of employees are explicitly excluded or membership is made optional under Iowa Code section 97B.1A(8)"b," while other classes are excluded or membership is made optional by their nature. The following subrules are designed to clarify the status of certain employee positions.

(1) Elected officials. Effective January 1, 1999, the following persons shall be covered by IPERS unless they elect out of coverage:

a. Elected officials in positions for which the compensation is on a fee basis;

b. Elected officials of school districts;

c. Elected officials of townships; and

d. Elected officials of other political subdivisions who are in part-time positions.

An elected official who becomes covered under this chapter may later terminate membership by informing IPERS in writing of the expiration of the member's term of office or, if a member of the general assembly, of the intention to terminate coverage.

An elected official does not terminate covered employment with the end of each term of office if the official has been reelected for the same position. If elected for another position, the official shall be covered unless the official elects out of coverage.

(2) County and municipal court bailiffs who receive compensation for duties shall be covered.

(3) Full-time city attorneys shall be covered. Part-time city attorneys who are considered to be public officers or public employees shall be covered.

(4) Magistrates shall be covered unless they elect out of IPERS coverage. Having made a choice to remain in IPERS coverage, a magistrate may not revoke that election and discontinue such coverage.

(5) Office and clerical staff of a county medical examiner's office shall be covered. Effective January 1, 1995, county medical examiners and deputy county medical examiners who are full-time county employees shall be covered.

(6) Police, firefighters, emergency personnel, and certain peace officers.

a. Effective July 1, 1994, police officers and firefighters of a city not participating in the retirement systems established under Iowa Code chapter 410 or 411 shall be covered.

b. Emergency personnel, such as ambulance drivers, who are deemed to be firefighters by the employer shall be covered as firefighters.

c. Effective January 1, 1995, part-time police officers shall be covered in the same manner as full-time police officers.

d. Reserve peace officers employed under Iowa Code chapter 80D shall not be covered in accordance with Iowa Code section 80D.14.

e. A police chief or fire chief who has submitted a written request to the board of trustees created by Iowa Code section 411.36 to be exempt from coverage under Iowa Code chapter 411 shall not be covered under IPERS in accordance with Iowa Code sections 384.6(1) and 411.3. The city shall make on behalf of such person the contributions required under Iowa Code section 384.6(1) to the International City Management Association/Retirement Corporation.

f. Peace officer candidates of the department of public safety shall not be covered.

g. An emergency medical care provider who provides emergency medical services, as defined in Iowa Code section 147A.1, and who is not a member of the retirement systems established in Iowa Code chapter 411 shall be covered.

(7) County social welfare employees shall be covered.

(8) Members of county soldiers relief commissions and their administrative or clerical employees shall be covered.

(9) Part-time elected mayors, mayors of townships, and mayors who are paid on a fee basis are covered under IPERS unless they elect out of coverage. All other mayors, including appointed mayors and full-time elected mayors, whether elected by popular vote or by some other means, are covered.

(10) Field assessors shall be covered.

(11) Members of county boards of supervisors who receive an annual salary shall be covered. Effective for terms of office beginning January 1, 1999, part-time members of county boards of supervisors who receive an annual salary or are paid on a per diem basis shall be covered unless they elect out of coverage.

(12) Temporary employees of the general assembly who are employed for less than six months in a calendar year or work less than 1,040 hours in a calendar year shall be covered unless the employee elects out of coverage. If coverage is elected, the member may not terminate coverage until termination of covered employment.

(13) Effective July 1, 2008, temporary employees shall not be covered provided that they have not established an ongoing relationship with an IPERS-covered employer. An ongoing relationship with an IPERS-covered employer is established when:

a. The employee is paid covered wages of $1,000 or more per quarter in two consecutive quarters; or

b. The employee is employed by a covered employer for 1,040 or more hours in a calendar year.

Coverage shall begin when the permanency of the relationship is established and shall continue until the employee's relationship with the covered employer is severed. If there is no formal severance, coverage for a person hired for temporary employment who has established an ongoing relationship with a covered employer shall continue until that person completes four consecutive calendar quarters in which no services are performed for that employer after the last covered calendar quarter.

No service credit will be granted to a temporary employee who has become a covered employee under this rule for any quarter in which no covered wages are reported unless the employee is on a leave of absence that qualifies for service credit under Iowa Code section 97B.1A(20). Contributions shall be paid, and service credit shall be accrued, when wages are paid in the quarter after the ongoing relationship has been established.

(14) Drainage district employees who have vested rights to IPERS through earlier participation or employees of drainage districts shall be covered unless they elect out of coverage.

(15) Full-time and part-time county attorneys shall be covered.

(16) Tax study committee employees shall be covered.

(17) School bus drivers who are considered to be public employees shall be covered. School bus drivers who are independent contractors shall not be covered. A determination must be made by IPERS on the facts presented on a case-by-case basis.

(18) Full-time or part-time students employed part-time by the educational institution where they are enrolled shall not be IPERS-covered. Full-time and part-time student status is as defined by the individual educational institutions. Full-time and part-time employment status is as defined by the individual employers. If the employer is not the institution where the college student is enrolled, the college student is not exempt from IPERS coverage and employers would determine IPERS coverage by applying the usual permanent or temporary rules.

High school and lower grade students continue to be exempt from IPERS coverage.

(19) Foreign exchange teachers and visitors including alien scholars, trainees, professors, teachers, research assistants and specialists in their fields of specialized knowledge or skill shall not be covered.

(20) Members of any other retirement system in Iowa maintained in whole or in part by public funds shall not be covered. However, effective July 1, 1996, an employee who has two jobs, one covered by IPERS and one covered by another retirement system in Iowa, shall remain an IPERS-covered employee, unless the employee receives credit in such other retirement system for both jobs.

(21) Members who are contributing to the federal civil service retirement system or federal employees retirement system shall not be covered. However, effective July 1, 1996, an employee who has two jobs, one covered by IPERS and one covered by a federal retirement system, shall be considered as an IPERS-covered employee, unless the employee receives credit in such federal retirement system for both jobs.

(22) Employees of credit unions without capital stock organized and operated for mutual purposes without profit shall not be covered.

(23) Members of the ministry, rabbinate or other religious order who perform full-time or part-time religious service for a covered employer shall be covered. However, members of the ministry, rabbinate or other religious order who have taken the vow of poverty may elect out of coverage.

(24) Any physician, surgeon, dentist or member of other professional groups employed full-time by a covered employer shall be covered. However, any member of a professional group who performs part-time service for any public agency but whose private practice provides the major source of income shall not be covered, except for city attorneys and health officials.

(25) Interns and resident doctors employed by a state or local hospital, school or institution shall not be covered.

(26) Professional personnel who acquire the status of an officer of the state of Iowa or a political subdivision thereof, even though they engage in private practice and render government service only on a part-time basis, shall be covered.

(27) Effective July 1, 1994, volunteer firefighters and special police officers are considered temporary employees and shall be covered if they meet the requirements of subrule 5.2(13).

(28) Residents or inmates of county homes shall not be covered.

(29) Members of the state transportation commission, the board of parole, and the state health facilities council shall be covered unless they elect out of coverage.

(30) Employees of an interstate agency established under Iowa Code chapter 28E, and similar enabling legislation in an adjoining state, if the city had made contributions to the system for employees performing functions which are transferred to the interstate agency shall be considered employees of the city for the sole purpose of membership in IPERS, although the employer contributions for those employees are made by the interstate agency.

(31) City managers, or city administrators performing the duties of city managers, under a form of city government listed in Iowa Code chapter 372 or 420 shall be covered unless they elect out of coverage.

(32) Employees appointed by the state board of regents shall be covered unless they elect coverage in an alternative retirement system qualified by the state board of regents. An employee must make an election in the alternative retirement system within 60 days of the employee's first day of employment.

(33) Employees who work in additional positions with additional duties, along with normal duties with the same employer, shall be considered covered employees until all of their compensated duties to their employer cease. (Examples include teacher/coach; teacher/summer driver's education instructor; and city employee/paid firefighter.)

(34) Adjunct instructors employed by a community college or university shall not be covered. Adjunct instructors are persons employed by a community college or university without a continuing contract and whose teaching load does not exceed one-half time for two full semesters or three full quarters for the calendar year. The determination of whether a teaching load exceeds one-half time shall be based on the number of credit hours or noncredit contact hours that the community college or university considers to be a full-time teaching load for a regular full semester or quarter. An adjunct instructor whose teaching load exceeds the foregoing limitations shall be covered.

In determining whether an adjunct instructor is a covered employee, no credit shall be granted for teaching periods of shorter duration than a regular semester or regular quarter (such as summer semesters), regardless of the number of credit or contact hours assigned to that period.

If there is no formal severance, an adjunct instructor who becomes a covered employee shall remain a covered employee until that person completes four consecutive calendar quarters in which no services are performed for that covered employer after the last covered calendar quarter. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, no service credit will be granted to any adjunct instructor who has become a covered employee under this rule for any calendar quarter in which no covered wages are reported unless the adjunct instructor is on an approved leave of absence that qualifies for service credit under Iowa Code section 97B.1A(20).

(35) Effective July 1, 1992, enrollees of a senior community service employment program authorized by Title V of the Older Americans Act and funded by the United States Department of Labor shall not be covered unless:

a. Both the enrollee and the covered employer elect coverage; or

b. The enrollee is currently contributing to IPERS.

For purposes of this subrule only, a covered employer is defined as the host agency where the enrollee is placed for training.

(36) Employees of area agencies on aging shall be included. However, effective July 1, 1994, employees of area agencies on aging shall not be covered if the area agency has provided for participation by all of its eligible employees in an alternative qualified plan pursuant to the requirements of the federal Internal Revenue Code. If an area agency on aging does not participate in an alternative plan, or terminates participation in such plan, IPERS coverage shall begin immediately.

(37) Effective July 1, 1994, arson investigators shall not be covered. They were transferred to the public safety peace officers' retirement, accident and disability system as found in Iowa Code chapter 97A.

(38) Persons who meet the requirements of independent contractor status as determined by IPERS using the criteria established by the federal Internal Revenue Service shall not be covered.

(39) Effective July 1, 1994, a person employed on or after that date for certain public safety positions shall not be covered. These positions are gaming enforcement officers employed by the division of criminal investigation for excursion boat gambling enforcement activities, fire prevention inspector peace officers, and employees of the division of capitol police (except clerical workers).

(40) Employees of area community colleges and universities shall be covered unless they elect coverage under an alternative system pursuant to a one-time irrevocable election. An employee must make an election in the alternative retirement system within 60 days of the employee's first day of employment.

(41) Volunteer emergency personnel, such as ambulance drivers and emergency medical technicians, shall be considered temporary employees and shall be covered if they meet the requirements of subrule 5.2(13). Persons who meet such requirements shall be covered under the protection occupation requirements of Iowa Code section 97B.49B if they are considered firefighters by their employers; otherwise they shall be covered under Iowa Code section 97B.1A.

(42) Persons employed through any program described in Iowa Code section 84A.7 and provided by the Iowa conservation corps shall not be covered.

(43) Appointed and full-time elective members of boards and commissions who receive a set salary shall be covered. Effective January 1, 1999, part-time elective members of boards and commissions not otherwise described in these rules who receive a set salary shall be covered unless they elect out of coverage. Members of boards, other than county boards of supervisors, and commissions, including appointed and elective full-time and part-time members, who receive only per diem and expenses shall not be covered.

(44) Persons receiving rehabilitation services in a community rehabilitation program, rehabilitation center, sheltered workshop, and similar organizations whose primary purpose is to provide vocational rehabilitation services to target populations shall not be covered.

(45) Persons who are members of a community service program authorized under and funded by grants made pursuant to the federal National and Community Service Act of 1990 shall not be covered.

(46) Persons who are employed by professional employment organizations, temporary staffing agencies, and similar noncovered employers and are leased to covered employers shall not be covered.

(47) Persons who are employed by a covered employer and leased to a noncovered employer shall be covered.

(48) Effective July 1, 1999, persons performing referee services for a covered employer shall not be covered, unless the performance of such services is included in the persons' regular job duties for the employer for which such services are performed.

(49) Effective July 1, 2000, patient advocates appointed under Iowa Code section 229.19 shall be covered.

(50) Employees of the Iowa student loan liquidity corporation shall not be covered.

(51) A citizen coach is an employee (permanent or temporary) who works for a school district in only a coaching capacity. An employer may provide a citizen coach with IPERS coverage immediately. If the employer chooses not to, then the following determination of IPERS coverage is needed:

a. If the citizen coach is expected to fill the position each season and cannot be unseated by another district employee, then the district and citizen coach have established a permanent relationship and IPERS coverage should begin once that citizen coach returns to coach a second season.

b. If there is no expectation of continued employment beyond the first season for the citizen coach, or if the citizen coach can be unseated by another district employee, then a temporary relationship exists and the citizen coach shall only be covered if the citizen coach meets the requirements of subrule 5.2(13).

Iowa Admin. Code r. 495-5.2

ARC 0662C, IAB 4/3/2013, effective 5/8/2013

Amended by IAB February 17, 2016/Volume XXXVIII, Number 17, effective 3/23/2016

Amended by IAB March 15, 2017/Volume XXXIX, Number 19, effective 4/19/2017

Amended by IAB March 14, 2018/Volume XL, Number 19, effective 4/18/2018

Amended by IAB March 10, 2021/Volume XLIII, Number 19, effective 4/14/2021

Amended by IAB February 23, 2022/Volume XLIV, Number 17, effective 3/30/2022

Amended by IAB April 17, 2024/Volume XLVI, Number 21, effective 5/22/2024