House File 2375 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2375 BY COMMITTEE ON LABOR (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2116) A BILL FOR An Act relating to access to and security of employee personnel 1 files. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5570HV (4) 83 ak/rj

H.F. 2375 Section 1. Section 8A.456, subsection 1, Code 2009, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. An employee or former employee, as defined in section 3 91B.0A, subject to the provisions of this subchapter shall 4 have access to the employee’s personal or former employee’s 5 personnel file. A former employee shall be allowed access 6 to the personnel file for two years after the termination of 7 employment with the employer. 8 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 91B.0A Definitions. 9 As used in this chapter: 10 1. “Employee” means as defined in section 91A.2. 11 2. “Employer” means as defined in section 91A.2. 12 3. “Former employee” means an individual who was employed by 13 the employer, receiving wages, salary, or other compensation 14 from the employer. 15 Sec. 3. Section 91B.1, Code 2009, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 91B.1 Files —— access by employees. 18 1. An employee , as defined in section 91A.2 , or a former 19 employee shall have access to and shall be permitted to obtain 20 a copy of the employee’s or former employee’s personnel file 21 maintained by the employee’s employer, as defined in section 22 91A.2 , including but not limited to performance evaluations, 23 disciplinary records, and other information concerning 24 employer-employee relations. 25 2. However, an employee’s access to a personnel file is 26 subject to all of the following: 27 a. The employer and employee or former employee shall 28 agree on the time the employee may have for access to the 29 employee’s personnel file, and a representative of the employer 30 may be present. 31 b. An employee or former employee shall not have access to 32 employment references written for the employee. 33 c. An employer may charge a reasonable fee for each page 34 of a copy made by the employer for an employee or former 35 -1- LSB 5570HV (4) 83 ak/rj 1/ 3

H.F. 2375 employee of an item in the employee’s personnel file. For 1 purposes of this paragraph, “reasonable fee” means an amount 2 equivalent to an amount charged per page for copies made by a 3 commercial copying business. 4 d. A former employee shall be allowed access to the 5 personnel file for two years after the termination of 6 employment with the employer. 7 Sec. 4. Section 91B.2, Code 2009, is amended to read as 8 follows: 9 91B.2 Information provided by employers about current or 10 former employees —— immunity. 11 1. An employer or an employer’s representative who, upon 12 request by or authorization of a current an employee or former 13 employee or upon request made by a person who in good faith is 14 believed to be a representative of a prospective employer of a 15 current an employee or former employee, provides work-related 16 information about a current an employee or former employee, 17 is immune from civil liability unless the employer or the 18 employer’s representative acted unreasonably in providing the 19 work-related information. 20 2. For purposes of this section, an employer acts 21 unreasonably if any of the following are present: 22 a. The work-related information violates a civil right of 23 the current employee or former employee. 24 b. The work-related information knowingly is provided to a 25 person who has no legitimate and common interest in receiving 26 the work-related information. 27 c. The work-related information is not relevant to the 28 inquiry being made, is provided with malice, or is provided 29 with no good faith belief that it is true. 30 3. For purposes of this section , “employer” and 31 “employee” are defined as provided in section 91A.2 . 32 EXPLANATION 33 This bill relates to access to and security of employee 34 personnel files. 35 -2- LSB 5570HV (4) 83 ak/rj 2/ 3

H.F. 2375 The bill defines “former employee” and provides employees 1 and former employees with equal access to a personnel file with 2 an employer in Code section 91B.1. 3 The bill modifies the language in Code sections 8A.456 and 4 91B.2 so that the defined terms of “employee” and “former 5 employee” are used equally in reference to the security 6 of personnel information. A former employer is limited to 7 requesting access to the employee’s personnel file during the 8 two-year period after termination of employment. 9 -3- LSB 5570HV (4) 83 ak/rj 3/ 3