Senate Study Bill 1024 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON SMITH) A BILL FOR An Act relating to fees charged to employees by employers for 1 copies of personnel files and including effective date and 2 retroactive applicability provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1604XC (3) 89 je/rn

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 91B.1, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 1 2021, is amended to read as follows: 2 c. An employer shall provide an employee with one copy of 3 the employee’s personnel file at no charge upon request. For 4 each subsequent copy requested by the employee, an employer may 5 charge a reasonable fee for each page of a copy made by the 6 employer for an employee of an item in the employee’s personnel 7 file. For purposes of this paragraph, “reasonable fee” means an 8 amount equivalent to an amount charged per page for copies made 9 by a commercial copying business. 10 Sec. 2. REIMBURSEMENT BY EMPLOYERS. An employer who charged 11 an employee, including a former employee, a fee to obtain an 12 initial copy of the employee’s personnel file pursuant to 13 section 91B.1, subsection 2, paragraph “c”, on or after January 14 1, 2021, shall reimburse the employee for the amount of the 15 fee. 16 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 17 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 18 Sec. 4. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. This Act applies 19 retroactively to copies of personnel files obtained by 20 employees pursuant to section 91B.1 on or after January 1, 21 2021. 22 EXPLANATION 23 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 24 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 25 This bill requires employers to provide employees with 26 one copy of the employee’s personnel file at no charge 27 upon request. Under current law, an employer may charge a 28 reasonable fee for each page of a copy made by the employer for 29 an employee of an item in the employee’s personnel file. The 30 bill permits employers to charge such fees for any subsequent 31 copies requested. 32 The bill requires an employer who charged an employee, 33 including a former employee, a fee to obtain an initial copy of 34 the employee’s personnel file on or after January 1, 2021, to 35 -1- LSB 1604XC (3) 89 je/rn 1/ 2

S.F. _____ reimburse the employee for the amount of the fee. 1 The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies 2 retroactively to copies of personnel files obtained by 3 employees on or after January 1, 2021. 4 -2- LSB 1604XC (3) 89 je/rn 2/ 2