A bill for an act requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees based on pregnancy or childbirth and making penalties applicable.

House

File

676

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

676

BY

COOLING

,

WILBURN

,

JAMES

,

LEVIN

,

B.

MEYER

,

KONFRST

,

MATSON

,

KRESSIG

,

BAGNIEWSKI

,

MADISON

,

CROKEN

,

R.

JOHNSON

,

SRINIVAS

,

AMOS

JR.

,

EHLERT

,

OLSON

,

ZABNER

,

SCHOLTEN

,

WESSEL-KROESCHELL

,

and

NIELSEN

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

requiring

employers

to

provide

reasonable

accommodations

1

to

employees

based

on

pregnancy

or

childbirth

and

making

2

penalties

applicable.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

2161YH

(3)

91

je/js

H.F.

676

Section

1.

Section

216.6,

subsection

2,

Code

2025,

is

1

amended

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

2

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

f.

(1)

An

employer

shall

provide

reasonable

3

accommodations

to

an

employee

based

on

medical

conditions

4

related

to

the

employee’s

pregnancy

or

childbirth

if

the

5

employee

so

requests

with

the

advice

of

the

employee’s

health

6

care

provider.

7

(2)

For

purposes

of

this

paragraph

“f”

,

“reasonable

8

accommodations”

means

actions

which

would

permit

an

employee

9

with

a

medical

condition

relating

to

the

employee’s

pregnancy

10

or

childbirth

to

perform

in

a

reasonable

manner

the

activities

11

involved

in

the

employee’s

specific

occupation

and

include

but

12

are

not

limited

to

the

provision

of

an

accessible

worksite,

13

acquisition

or

modification

of

equipment,

job

restructuring,

14

and

a

modified

work

schedule.

“Reasonable

accommodations”

does

15

not

mean

any

action

that

would

impose

an

undue

hardship

on

the

16

business

of

the

employer

from

whom

the

action

is

requested.

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

to

provide

reasonable

21

accommodations

to

an

employee

based

on

medical

conditions

22

related

to

the

employee’s

pregnancy

or

childbirth

if

the

23

employee

requests

reasonable

accommodations

with

the

advice

24

of

the

employee’s

health

care

provider.

Penalty

provisions

25

for

discriminatory

employment

practices

are

made

applicable

26

to

a

failure

to

provide

such

reasonable

accommodations

to

an

27

employee.

28

The

bill

defines

“reasonable

accommodations”

as

actions

29

which

would

permit

an

employee

with

a

medical

condition

30

relating

to

the

employee’s

pregnancy

or

childbirth

to

31

perform

in

a

reasonable

manner

the

activities

involved

in

32

the

employee’s

specific

occupation

and

include

but

are

not

33

limited

to

the

provision

of

an

accessible

worksite,

acquisition

34

or

modification

of

equipment,

job

restructuring,

and

a

35

-1-

LSB

2161YH

(3)

91

je/js

1/

2

H.F.

676

modified

work

schedule.

The

bill

provides

that

“reasonable

1

accommodations”

does

not

mean

any

action

that

would

impose

an

2

undue

hardship

on

the

business

of

the

employer

from

whom

the

3

action

is

requested.

4

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2161YH

(3)

91

je/js

2/

2