Opinion ID: 1967375
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Extended Workload Proposal.

Text: The next proposal for our consideration provides: E. Extended Work Year and Extended Work Load . . . . 2. Extended Work Load a. Based on a normal work day, any certificated teacher who teaches more than 300 minutes per day as part of his regular workload shall receive additional compensation. Secondary and intermediate teaching assignments will be five (5) class periods per day. Additional teaching assignments shall be voluntary and compensated at the employer's hourly proportional per diem rate. The district court's finding that this was a subject of mandatory bargaining was founded on its conclusion that the proposal pertained to overtime pay. The school district urges and PERB and the employee organizations concede that the proposal does not pertain to overtime. As we recognized in Iowa City Fire Fighters Association v. PERB, 554 N.W.2d 707, 711 (Iowa 1996), a premium pay proposal does not relate to overtime if the work to be assigned and the compensation apply to work within a single shift. For purposes of applying this precedent to the present case, we believe a teacher's regular workday is the equivalent of a shift. Consequently, we agree that the present proposal does not relate to overtime pay. PERB and the employee organizations contend that, although not overtime pay, this extended workload proposal is a subject of mandatory bargaining under the general topic of wages. The decision in Iowa City Fire Fighters Association also forecloses that contention. In Iowa City Fire Fighters Association the employees' representative submitted a bargaining proposal attempting to regulate the tasks that could be assigned the fire fighters during particular days and times of days. We held that these proposals could not be made the subject of mandatory bargaining because they clearly conflicted with the employer's exclusive right to control the work as recognized in Iowa Code section 20.7. Iowa City Fire Fighters Ass'n, 554 N.W.2d at 711. In the same negotiation process, the employees' organization in Iowa City Fire Fighters Association also submitted a proposal to bargain in regard to premium pay for work performed on certain days and during certain hours of the day. It argued that this was a wage proposal and did not interfere with the employer's right to control the work. We rejected that contention and found that the proposal directly and adversely affected the employer's ability to control the work. Iowa City Fire Fighters Ass'n, 554 N.W.2d at 711. Consequently, we concluded that the proposal could not be made a topic of mandatory bargaining. Id. We reach a similar conclusion as to the premium pay proposal in the present case. It would, in our view, adversely affect the employer's exclusive right to control the work to be performed. For this reason we reverse the district court's ruling as to this proposal and declare that it is not a subject of mandatory bargaining.