Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 20.7 (2026)

Public employer rights

✓ current as of July 2026

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Public employers shall have, in addition to all powers, duties, and rights established by constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, charter, or special act, the exclusive power, duty, and the right to:

1. Direct the work of its public employees.

2. Hire, evaluate, promote, demote, transfer, assign, and retain public employees in positions within the public agency.

3. Suspend or discharge public employees for proper cause.

4. Maintain the efficiency of governmental operations.

5. Relieve public employees from duties because of lack of work or for other legitimate reasons.

6. Determine and implement methods, means, assignments, and personnel by which the public employer’s operations are to be conducted.

7. Take such actions as may be necessary to carry out the mission of the public employer.

8. Initiate, prepare, certify, and administer its budget.

9. Exercise all powers and duties granted to the public employer by law. [C75, 77, 79, 81, §20.7] 2017 Acts, ch 2, §4, 26, 27 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 36 cases, 1978–2019 · leading case: Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 963 F. Supp. 805 (N.D. Iowa 1997).

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Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 963 F. Supp. 805 (N.D. Iowa 1997). · cites it 136× “Wrongful discharge under Iowa Code § 20.7 (3) ....................”

State v. Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 508 N.W.2d 668 (Iowa 1993). · cites it 74× “Chapter 20 of the Iowa Code provides the statutory framework governing the rights of public employees to organize and collectively bargain as well as the rights of public employers with respect to the collective bargaining process.”

Iowa City Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Iowa City Educ. Ass'n, 343 N.W.2d 139 (Iowa 1983). · cites it 50× “The district's reliance on the statutory delineation of employer rights in Code section 20.7 is similarly misplaced. This court recognized the right of parties to agree on submission of teacher termination issues to arbitration in Shenandoah Education Association v.”

Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 577 N.W.2d 845 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 47× “This case comes to us on a certified question from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa: Does Iowa Code § 20.7 (3) negate the presumption of at-will employment for all public employees covered under this provision of the Iowa Public Employment…”

Ne. Cmty. Educ. Ass'n v. Ne. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 402 N.W.2d 765 (Iowa 1987). · cites it 95× “Section 20.7 provides in pertinent part that: [p]ublic employers shall have, in addition to all powers, duties, and rights established by constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, charter, or special act, the exclusive power, duty, and the right to .”

Charles City Educ. Ass'n v. Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 291 N.W.2d 663 (Iowa 1980). · cites it 38× “PERB argues for a strict application of the aforementioned two-part test, which would not involve consideration of the competing interests of the parties. The District, on the other hand, contends that we should engage in a balancing test, weighing the employee interest…”

Charles City Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 275 N.W.2d 766 (Iowa 1979). · cites it 24× “Because the utilization of work time involves management policies, we must examine § 20.7 of PERA. Section 20.7, as relevant, provides: Public employers shall have, in addition to all powers, duties and rights established by constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, charter,…”

Waterloo Educ. Ass'n v. Iowa Pub. Emp. Relations, 740 N.W.2d 418 (Iowa 2007). · cites it 16× “Section 20.7 of PERA states that public employers shall have “the exclusive power, duty, and right to,” among other things, “[djirect the work of its public employees,” “[m]aintain the efficiency of governmental operations,” and “[d]etermine and implement methods, means,…”

Iowa City Ass'n of Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 610 v. Iowa Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 554 N.W.2d 707 (Iowa 1996). · cites it 38× “The City argued, as it did with respect to the "hours" proposal, that this contract provision would impinge on the City's exclusive managerial rights under Iowa Code section 20.7. PERB agreed. The union petitioned for judicial review, and the district court consolidated the…”

City of Fort Dodge v. Iowa Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 275 N.W.2d 393 (Iowa 1979). · cites it 8× “§ 158 (d), and by comparing the list of matters reserved for public employers under the "public employer rights" provisions of Iowa's § 20.7 with the national act, which has no similar provisions.”

Norton v. Adair Cnty., 441 N.W.2d 347 (Iowa 1989). · cites it 8× “) The italicized language tracks language found in section 20.7, the provision enumerating specifically the rights of public employers: Public employers shall have, in addition to all powers, duties, and rights established by constitutional provision, statute, ordinance,…”

Susan Ackerman v. State of Iowa, Iowa Workforce Dev., Teresa Wahlert, Teresa Hillary, & Devon Lewis, 913 N.W.2d 610 (Iowa 2018). · cites it 4× “The State specifically raised this 25 point below, and the district court also relied on it as an additional ground for dismissal. Count VIII provides Plaintiff with an additional avenue for remedy through wrongful discharge.”

Show all 36 citing cases →

— Iowa Code § 20.7(2) — 1 case

Charles City Educ. Ass'n v. Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 291 N.W.2d 663 (Iowa 1980). “PERB argues for a strict application of the aforementioned two-part test, which would not involve consideration of the competing interests of the parties. The District, on the other hand, contends that we should engage in a balancing test, weighing the employee interest…”

— Iowa Code § 20.7(3) — 7 cases

Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 963 F. Supp. 805 (N.D. Iowa 1997). “Wrongful discharge under Iowa Code § 20.7 (3) ....................”

Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 577 N.W.2d 845 (Iowa 1998). “This case comes to us on a certified question from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa: Does Iowa Code § 20.7 (3) negate the presumption of at-will employment for all public employees covered under this provision of the Iowa Public Employment…”

Ne. Cmty. Educ. Ass'n v. Ne. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 402 N.W.2d 765 (Iowa 1987). “Section 20.7 provides in pertinent part that: [p]ublic employers shall have, in addition to all powers, duties, and rights established by constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, charter, or special act, the exclusive power, duty, and the right to .”

Iowa City Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Iowa City Educ. Ass'n, 343 N.W.2d 139 (Iowa 1983). “The district's reliance on the statutory delineation of employer rights in Code section 20.7 is similarly misplaced. This court recognized the right of parties to agree on submission of teacher termination issues to arbitration in Shenandoah Education Association v.”

Susan Ackerman v. State of Iowa, Iowa Workforce Dev., Teresa Wahlert, Teresa Hillary, & Devon Lewis, 913 N.W.2d 610 (Iowa 2018). “The State specifically raised this 25 point below, and the district court also relied on it as an additional ground for dismissal. Count VIII provides Plaintiff with an additional avenue for remedy through wrongful discharge.”

— Iowa Code § 20.7(4) — 2 cases

Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist., 963 F. Supp. 805 (N.D. Iowa 1997). “Wrongful discharge under Iowa Code § 20.7 (3) ....................”

— Iowa Code § 20.7(6) — 1 case

Clinton Police Dep't Bargaining Unit v. Iowa Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 397 N.W.2d 764 (Iowa 1986).

— Iowa Code § 20.7(7) — 1 case

— Iowa Code § 20.7(8) — 2 cases

City of Des Moines v. Pub. Emp. Relations Bd., 275 N.W.2d 753 (Iowa 1979).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.