Opinion ID: 2045403
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law.

Text: Phipps' first argument is that his gainshare is a wage under Iowa Code section 91A and that he has a valid claim for violation of the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law. In its ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the district court held that Phipps' claim for gainsharing payments concerned future eligibility for money, not wages. We believe the gainshare is a wage, but find no violation of the law. The purpose of the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Law is to facilitate the collection of wages owed to employees. Williams v. Davenport Communications Ltd. Partnership, 438 N.W.2d 855, 857 (Iowa App.1989); see Davis v. Ottumwa Young Men's Christian Ass'n, 438 N.W.2d 10, 12 (Iowa 1989). An employer must pay all wages due its employees. Iowa Code § 91A.3(1). Wages is defined in Iowa Code section 91A.2(7), which provides in relevant part:  Wages  means compensation owed by an employer for: a. Labor or services rendered by an employee, whether determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation. .... c. Any payments to the employee or to a fund for the benefit of the employee, including but not limited to payments for medical, health, hospital, welfare, pension, or profit-sharing, which are due an employee under an agreement with the employer or under a policy of the employer.... If an employer fails to pay an employee wages, the employer is subject to liability for unpaid wages or expenses, court costs, and attorney fees. Iowa Code § 91A.8; Dallenbach v. MAPCO Gas Prods., Inc., 459 N.W.2d 483, 489 (Iowa 1990). If the employer's conduct is intentional, liquidated damages are also recoverable. Iowa Code § 91A.8; Dallenbach, 459 N.W.2d at 489. It is clear that Blue Cross's gainsharing meets the broad definition of wages. Blue Cross concedes that gainsharing is considered part of its employees' compensation. The compensation in question is Phipps' 1993 gainshare payment. It does not make sense to argue that this involves future wages. The 1993 gainshare payment is earned in 1993. Further, gainsharing is described as a sharing of the excess revenue from the prior year. Just because the gainshare payments were not made until 1994 does not mean they were not earned in 1993. In fact, it was impossible for Blue Cross to determine the amount of the excess revenue until 1993 had ended. Even though gainsharing is a wage, Phipps still has no claim for nonpayment under chapter 91A. Under Iowa Code section 91A.2(7), Blue Cross did not owe Phipps the gainsharing payment because he was on probation on December 31, 1993, a violation of one of Blue Cross's established criteria. Further, the starting date of the probation was not contrary to any company policy. Phipps claims that the probation should have begun immediately following his last specific incident of misconduct on October 20. Neither the handbook nor the manual mentions a timeline for imposing a sanction such as probation. Blue Cross legitimately decided that denying Phipps his gainsharing, by starting the probation on November 3, was an appropriate penalty. This decision was based on Phipps' past job performance and misconduct and the fact that he was on counseling or probation for one-third of 1993.