Class action lawsuit filed against UI Hospitals over pay for staff

IOWA CITY — Three employees of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics have filed a lawsuit over pay disputes.

They allege the hospital is not paying them on time for extra shifts and extended workdays and estimate 2000 employees could qualify as part of their class action lawsuit.

In court filings, one of the plaintiffs says it took the hospital two months to pay her for overtime.

“People being paid late is wrong. You need to follow the law,” said Nate Willems, the attorney representing the workers. “Money has more value to people when it’s paid to them on time and not a month or two months later.”

A physical therapist and two nurses filed the lawsuit. Willems said the hospital is not following the state law that requires employees to be paid for extra work within 12 days of a pay period.

“What we’re describing is feature and not a bug of the way that UIHC pays their employees,” Willems said.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the hospital to comply with wage laws and pay damaged to employees who weren’t paid on time for extra hours of work. A spokesperson for the university says they don’t comment on litigation. The hospital changed the way it pays what’s commonly referred to as overtime after the legislature changed Iowa’s collective bargaining law in 2017.