Iowa Workers' Compensation

  US Nursing Corp. v. Decormier , No. 25-0407 (Iowa App. Dec. 3, 2025) Claimant suffered an injury at work.  Under her contract at work, she was initially guaranteed 48 hours of work per week at $65 per hour, with $97.50 overtime.  She received a $10 per hour raise the week before she was injured. The deputy concluded her weekly rate was $1562.50 and denied penalty benefits.  On appeal, the commissioner agreed with the weekly rate but awarded a $5500 penalty.  Defendants filed a judicial review, which affirmed the decision of the commissioner The fighting issue with respect to the rate was whether section 85.36(6) or 85.36(9) was to be applied. The commissioner found that 85.36(6) appied, as claimant had worked at US Nursing for not only ten weeks in Sioux City but on an earlier assignment.  Defendants' argument that 85.36(9) applied because claimant had earned no wages or less than the usual wages customary in the industry was denied, as defendants' own wi...

In Delire v. Key City Transport , No. 16-0720 (Iowa App. Dec. 21, 2016), the court addressed for the second time a rate issue presented by the parties.  Claimant was a trucker, who was only three weeks into his employment at the time of his injury.  He believed that his yearly earnings were to be $75,000 and his original rate was based on an annual salary of $70,000.  This rate was reversed in the original Court of Appeals decision and the case was remanded for further consideration. In the second appeal, the question was whether claimant's rate should be determined based on his salary in two of the three weeks he worked (the third week was significantly less than the other two weeks) or whether all three weeks should be taken into account.  The commissioner considered all three weeks.  The court indicated that section 85.36(7) addressed the situation more precisely because it applied "in the case of an employee who has been in the employ of the employer less ...