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HF26 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
LOHSE
Last action
2025-03-14
Official status
Withdrawn. H.J. 660 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-14 Iowa Legislature

    Withdrawn. H.J. 660 .

  2. 2025-02-06 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 248 .

  3. 2025-02-05 Iowa Legislature

    Committee vote: Yeas, 23. Nays, 0. H.J. 185 .

  4. 2025-02-05 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, recommending passage. H.J. 185 .

  5. 2025-01-28 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  6. 2025-01-23 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 01/28/2025 12:30PM RM 19.

  7. 2025-01-23 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Smith, Siegrist and Srinivas. H.J. 122 .

  8. 2025-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 42 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the treatment of adoptive parent employees and making penalties applicable.(See HF 248 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

26

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

26

BY

LOHSE

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

treatment

of

adoptive

parent

employees

1

and

making

penalties

applicable.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1317YH

(1)

91

je/js

H.F.

26

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

91A.5B

Treatment

of

adoptive

parent

1

employees.

2

1.

For

purposes

of

this

section,

“adoption”

means

the

3

permanent

placement

in

this

state

of

a

child

by

the

department

4

of

health

and

human

services,

by

a

licensed

agency

under

5

chapter

238,

by

an

agency

that

meets

the

provisions

of

the

6

interstate

compact

in

section

232.158,

or

by

a

person

making

an

7

independent

placement

according

to

the

provisions

of

chapter

8

600.

9

2.

An

employer

shall

treat

an

employee

who

chooses

to

adopt

10

a

child

up

to

six

years

of

age

in

the

same

manner

as

an

employee

11

who

is

the

biological

parent

of

a

newborn

child

for

purposes

of

12

employment

policies,

benefits,

and

protections

for

the

first

13

year

of

the

adoption.

14

3.

Notwithstanding

subsection

2,

an

employee

shall

not

be

15

entitled

to

disability

leave

without

a

qualifying

disability

16

under

an

employer’s

disability

policies.

17

EXPLANATION

18

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

19

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

20

This

bill

requires

an

employer

under

Code

chapter

91A

to

21

treat

an

employee

who

chooses

to

adopt

a

child

up

to

six

years

22

of

age

in

the

same

manner

as

an

employee

who

is

the

biological

23

parent

of

a

newborn

child

for

purposes

of

employment

policies,

24

benefits,

and

protections

for

the

first

year

of

the

adoption.

25

An

employee

shall

not

be

entitled

to

disability

leave

without

a

26

qualifying

disability

under

an

employer’s

disability

policies.

27

The

bill

defines

“adoption”

as

the

permanent

placement

in

28

this

state

of

a

child

by

the

department

of

health

and

human

29

services,

by

a

licensed

agency

under

Code

chapter

238,

by

an

30

agency

that

meets

the

provisions

of

the

interstate

compact

in

31

Code

section

232.158,

or

by

a

person

making

an

independent

32

placement

according

to

the

provisions

of

Code

chapter

600.

33

Code

section

91A.2

defines

“employer”

as

a

person,

as

34

defined

in

Code

chapter

4,

who

in

this

state

employs

for

wages

35

-1-

LSB

1317YH

(1)

91

je/js

1/

2

H.F.

26

a

natural

person.

The

definition

specifies

that

an

employer

1

does

not

include

a

client,

patient,

customer,

or

other

person

2

who

obtains

professional

services

from

a

licensed

person

3

who

provides

the

services

on

a

fee

service

basis

or

as

an

4

independent

contractor.

5

Code

section

91A.2

defines

“employee”

as

a

natural

person

6

who

is

employed

in

this

state

for

wages

by

an

employer.

7

Code

section

91A.2

specifies

that

“employee”

also

includes

a

8

commission

salesperson

who

takes

orders

or

performs

services

9

on

behalf

of

a

principal

and

who

is

paid

on

the

basis

of

10

commissions

but

does

not

include

persons

who

purchase

for

their

11

own

account

for

resale.

Code

section

91A.2

also

excludes

12

certain

persons

engaged

in

agriculture

and

certain

independent

13

contractors

from

the

definition

of

“employee”.

14

Code

chapter

91A

is

administered

and

enforced

by

the

15

director

of

the

department

of

inspections,

appeals,

16

and

licensing.

A

violation

of

Code

chapter

91A

or

the

17

administrative

rules

promulgated

under

it

is

subject

to

a

18

civil

penalty

of

not

more

than

$500

per

pay

period

for

each

19

violation.

20

-2-

LSB

1317YH

(1)

91

je/js

2/

2