Senate File 435 - Introduced SENATE FILE 435 BY BOULTON , PETERSEN , QUIRMBACH , WAHLS , JOCHUM , TRONE GARRIOTT , WEINER , CELSI , T. TAYLOR , KNOX , GIDDENS , and DONAHUE A BILL FOR An Act requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations 1 to employees based on pregnancy or childbirth and providing 2 civil penalties. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2247XS (6) 90 cm/rn

S.F. 435 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 216.23 Reasonable accommodations to 1 employees —— pregnancy or childbirth. 2 1. An employer shall provide reasonable accommodations 3 to an employee based on medical conditions related to the 4 employee’s pregnancy or childbirth if the employee so requests 5 with the advice of the employee’s health care provider. 6 2. For purposes of this section, “reasonable accommodations” 7 means actions which would permit an employee with a medical 8 condition relating to the employee’s pregnancy or childbirth to 9 perform in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the 10 employee’s specific occupation and include but are not limited 11 to the provision of an accessible worksite, acquisition or 12 modification of equipment, job restructuring, and a modified 13 work schedule. “Reasonable accommodations” does not mean any 14 action that would impose an undue hardship on the business of 15 the employer from whom the action is requested. 16 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 216.24 Penalties. 17 An employer who violates section 216.23 is subject to a civil 18 penalty of up to seven hundred fifty dollars. 19 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 216.25 Duties and authority of the 20 director. 21 1. The director shall adopt rules to implement and enforce 22 section 216.23 and shall provide exemptions from the provisions 23 of section 216.23 where reasonable. 24 2. In order to carry out the purposes of section 216.23, 25 the director or the director’s representative, upon presenting 26 appropriate credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in 27 charge, may: 28 a. Inspect employment records relating to the total number 29 of employees and pregnant employees or employees recovering 30 from childbirth, and the services provided to pregnant 31 employees or employees recovering from childbirth. 32 b. Interview an employer, owner, operator, agent, or 33 employee, during working hours or at other reasonable times. 34 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 216.26 Collective bargaining 35 -1- LSB 2247XS (6) 90 cm/rn 1/ 3

S.F. 435 agreements. 1 Compliance with the minimum standards required in section 2 216.23 shall not be subject to or considered in collective 3 bargaining. 4 EXPLANATION 5 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 6 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 7 This bill requires employers to provide reasonable 8 accommodations to employees based on pregnancy or childbirth. 9 The bill requires an employer to provide reasonable 10 accommodations to an employee based on medical conditions 11 related to the employee’s pregnancy or childbirth if the 12 employee requests reasonable accommodations with the advice of 13 the employee’s health care provider. 14 The bill defines “reasonable accommodations” as actions 15 which would permit an employee with a medical condition 16 relating to the employee’s pregnancy or childbirth to 17 perform in a reasonable manner the activities involved in 18 the employee’s specific occupation and include but are not 19 limited to the provision of an accessible worksite, acquisition 20 or modification of equipment, job restructuring, and a 21 modified work schedule. The bill provides that “reasonable 22 accommodations” does not mean any action that would impose an 23 undue hardship on the business of the employer from whom the 24 action is requested. 25 The bill provides that an employer who violates the bill 26 is subject to a civil penalty of up to $750. The director of 27 the civil rights commission shall adopt rules to enforce the 28 bill and provide exemptions where reasonable. The director 29 or director’s representative upon presenting appropriate 30 credentials to the person in charge may inspect employment 31 records relating to the total number of employees and pregnant 32 employees or employees recovering from childbirth and the 33 services provided to pregnant employees or employees recovering 34 from childbirth, as well as interview an employer, operator, 35 -2- LSB 2247XS (6) 90 cm/rn 2/ 3

S.F. 435 owner, agent, or employee during working hours or at other 1 reasonable times. 2 The bill provides that compliance with minimum standards 3 required by the bill shall not be subject to or considered in 4 collective bargaining. 5 -3- LSB 2247XS (6) 90 cm/rn 3/ 3