Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 91A.3 (2026)

Mode of payment

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section IA-LEGlegis.iowa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. An employer shall pay all wages due its employees, less any lawful deductions specified in section 91A.5, at least in monthly, semimonthly, or biweekly installments on regular paydays which are at consistent intervals from each other and which are designated in advance by the employer. However, if any of these wages due its employees are determined on a commission basis, the employer may, upon agreement with the employee, pay only a credit against such wages. If such credit is paid, the employer shall, at regular intervals, pay any difference between a credit paid against wages determined on a commission basis and such wages actually earned on a commission basis. These regular intervals shall not be separated by more than twelve months. A regular payday shall not be more than twelve days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, after the end of the period in which the wages were earned. An employer and employee may, upon written agreement which shall be maintained as a record, vary the provisions of this subsection. 2. The wages paid under subsection 1 shall be paid in United States currency or by written instrument issued by the employer and negotiable on demand at full face value for such currency, unless the employee has agreed in writing to receive a part of or all wages in kind or in other form. 3. a. The wages paid under subsection 1 shall be paid at the employee’s normal place of employment during normal employment hours or at a place and hour mutually agreed upon by the employer and employee, or the employee may elect to have the wages sent for direct deposit, on or by the regular payday of the employee, into a financial institution designated by the employee. Upon written request by the employee, wages due may be sent to the employee by mail. The employer shall maintain a copy of the request for as long as it is effective and for at least two years thereafter. An employee hired on or after July 1, 2005, may be required, as a condition of employment, to participate in direct deposit of the employee’s wages in a financial institution of the employee’s choice unless any of the following conditions exist: (1) The costs to the employee of establishing and maintaining an account for purposes of the direct deposit would effectively reduce the employee’s wages to a level below the minimum wage provided under section 91D.1. (2) The employee would incur fees charged to the employee’s account as a result of the direct deposit. (3) The provisions of a collective bargaining agreement mutually agreed upon by the employer and the employee organization prohibit the employer from requiring an employee to sign up for direct deposit as a condition of hire. b. If the employer fails to pay an employee’s wages on or by the regular payday in accordance with this subsection, the employer is liable for the amount of any overdraft charge if the overdraft is created on the employee’s account because of the employer’s failure to pay the wages on or by the regular payday. The overdraft charges may be the basis for a claim under section 91A.10 and for damages under section 91A.8. 4. The wages paid under subsection 1 may be delivered to a designee of the employee who\n\nTue Dec 09 22:29:31 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 91A (28, 2) 3 WAGE PAYMENT COLLECTION, §91A.5\n\nis so designated in writing or may be sent to the employee by any reasonable means requested by the employee in writing. A designee under this subsection shall not also be an assignee or buyer of wages under section 539.4 nor a garnisher of the employee under chapter 642, unless the designee complies with the provisions of section 539.4 and chapter 642. 5. If an employee is absent from the normal place of employment on the regular payday, the employer shall, upon demand of the employee made within the first seven days following the regular payday, pay the wages, less any lawful deductions specified in section 91A.5, which were due on that regular payday. However, if demand is not made within this seven-day period, the employer shall, upon demand of the employee, pay the wages which were due on a regular payday within the first seven days following the day on which demand is made. 6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim. If the employer refuses to pay all or part of each claim, the employer shall submit to the employee a written justification of such refusal within the same time period in which expense claims are paid under this subsection. 7. If a farm labor contractor contracts with a person engaged in the production of seed or feed grains to remove unwanted or genetically deviant plants or corn tassels or to hand pollinate plants, and fails to pay all wages due the employees of the farm labor contractor, the person engaged in the production of seed or feed grains shall also be liable to the employees for wages not paid by the farm labor contractor. [C77, 79, 81, §91A.3] 84 Acts, ch 1270, §2; 99 Acts, ch 68, §18; 2005 Acts, ch 168, §19, 23; 2006 Acts, ch 1083, §1, 2, 4; 2007 Acts, ch 29, §1; 2008 Acts, ch 1136, §1, 2 Referred to in §91A.2, 91A.4, 91A.7, 91A.8

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 47 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case: Hinshaw v. Ligon Indus., L.L.C., 551 F. Supp. 2d 798 (N.D. Iowa 2008).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Hinshaw v. Ligon Indus., L.L.C., 551 F. Supp. 2d 798 (N.D. Iowa 2008). · cites it 58× “Iowa Code § 91A.3. Second, Iowa Code § 91A.”

Audus v. Sabre Commc'ns Corp., 554 N.W.2d 868 (Iowa 1996). · cites it 31× “1(8), that section 91A.3 precluded deferral of commission payments beyond twelve months, and that the commissions were due and payable at the time of each sale made by Audus.”

Runyon v. Kubota Tractor Corp., 653 N.W.2d 582 (Iowa 2002). · cites it 16× “It provides: When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages or expenses…”

Dallenbach v. MAPCO Gas Prods., Inc., 459 N.W.2d 483 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 22× “That statute provides: When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses *489 pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages…”

Bouaphakeo v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 564 F. Supp. 2d 870 (N.D. Iowa 2008). · cites it 8× “” Iowa Code § 91A.3. The IWPCL also gives employees the right to receive their “wages due” in “at least monthly, semimonthly, or biweekly installments on regular paydays,” id.”

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 136 S. Ct. 1036 (2016). · cites it 2× “The plaintiffs alleged that Tyson failed to adequately pay workers overtime for donning and doffing protective gear, in violation of the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law, Iowa Code § 91A.3 (2013). This Iowa law mirrors the FLSA.”

Johnson v. Dollar Gen., 880 F. Supp. 2d 967 (N.D. Iowa 2012). · cites it 10× “2(7), that Iowa Code § 91A.3 requires an employer to pay wages earned no less than one month after they are earned, and that Iowa Code § 91A.”

Westegard v. Davis Cnty. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 580 N.W.2d 726 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 48× “See Iowa Code § 91A.3(1) (1993). The appellants, classified employees of the defendant, Davis County Community School District, alleged the school district violated this statute by consistently issuing payroll checks more than twelve days following the end of the pay period.”

Frazier v. PJ Iowa, L.C., 337 F. Supp. 3d 848 (S.D. Iowa 2018). · cites it 4× “2(6)-are available "[w]hen it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses pursuant to section 91A.3," id. § 91A.8. "While the question of intent is a question of fact properly left to the jury, the question of whether…”

Guinan v. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., 803 F. Supp. 2d 984 (N.D. Iowa 2011). · cites it 8× “” Iowa Code § 91A.3. The IWPCL also gives employees the right to receive their “wages due” in “at least monthly, semimonthly, or biweekly installments on regular paydays,” id.”

Tegtmeier v. PJ Iowa, L.C., 189 F. Supp. 3d 811 (S.D. Iowa 2016). · cites it 4× “” Id at 1175 (citing Iowa Code § 91A.3). As this Court noted, “[a] violation of the IWPCL .”

Phipps v. IASD Health Servs. Corp., 558 N.W.2d 198 (Iowa 1997). · cites it 2× “Labor or services rendered by an employee, whether determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation.”

Show all 47 citing cases →

— Iowa Code § 91A.3(1) — 16 cases

Audus v. Sabre Commc'ns Corp., 554 N.W.2d 868 (Iowa 1996). “1(8), that section 91A.3 precluded deferral of commission payments beyond twelve months, and that the commissions were due and payable at the time of each sale made by Audus.”

Dallenbach v. MAPCO Gas Prods., Inc., 459 N.W.2d 483 (Iowa 1990). “That statute provides: When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses *489 pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages…”

Runyon v. Kubota Tractor Corp., 653 N.W.2d 582 (Iowa 2002). “It provides: When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages or expenses…”

Westegard v. Davis Cnty. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 580 N.W.2d 726 (Iowa 1998). “See Iowa Code § 91A.3(1) (1993). The appellants, classified employees of the defendant, Davis County Community School District, alleged the school district violated this statute by consistently issuing payroll checks more than twelve days following the end of the pay period.”

Johnson v. Dollar Gen., 880 F. Supp. 2d 967 (N.D. Iowa 2012). “2(7), that Iowa Code § 91A.3 requires an employer to pay wages earned no less than one month after they are earned, and that Iowa Code § 91A.”

— Iowa Code § 91A.3(1)(b) — 1 case

Egan v. A.W. Companies, Inc. (N.D. Ill. 2024).

— Iowa Code § 91A.3(2013) — 1 case

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 136 S. Ct. 1036 (2016). “The plaintiffs alleged that Tyson failed to adequately pay workers overtime for donning and doffing protective gear, in violation of the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law, Iowa Code § 91A.3 (2013). This Iowa law mirrors the FLSA.”

— Iowa Code § 91A.3(6) — 3 cases

Debra Shaw v. The McFarland Clinic, P.C., 363 F.3d 744 (8th Cir. 2004).

Shaw v. McFarland Clinic, P.C., 231 F. Supp. 2d 924 (S.D. Iowa 2002).

Debra Shaw v. The McFarland Clinic (8th Cir. 2004).

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.