Increased qualifying wage amount for temporary employees

The minimum covered wage amount that temporary employees must earn in two consecutive quarters to qualify for IPERS coverage will increase from $300 to $1,000 per quarter, the first increase since 1993. This change affects temporary employees who qualify for coverage on or after July 1, 2008. Temporary employees who already qualified for coverage before July 1, 2008, under the $300 minimum will continue to be IPERS-covered and will not have to requalify for coverage.

Temporary employees are generally those hired for seasonal, on-call, or intermittent employment. Employees hired for temporary employment of less than six months or 1,040 hours in a calendar year are excluded from IPERS coverage unless they have established an ongoing relationship with an IPERS-covered employer. This relationship is established in one of two ways:

• The employee is employed by an IPERS-covered employer for 1,040 or more hours in a calendar year.
• The employee is paid IPERS-covered wages of $1,000 or more per quarter in two consecutive quarters.

IPERS coverage begins in the quarter after the ongoing relationship is established. Once established, coverage also includes subsequent quarters in which the temporary employee makes less than $1,000. If a temporary employee works for more than one employer, the employee must qualify for coverage separately with each employer. This law does not affect permanent employees or optional coverage employees who are covered from the onset of their employment, because there is no minimum earnings requirement for these employees.

Effective July 1, 2008
Iowa Administrative Code: 495 - 5.2(13)
Employers Affected: All