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SF134 • 2026

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

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

Labor
Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
PETERSEN, WINCKLER, STAED, CELSI, DONAHUE, DOTZLER, TOWNSEND, WAHLS, BENNETT and WEINER
Last action
2025-01-30
Official status
Subcommittee: Klimesh, Costello, and Petersen. S.J. 170 .
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 requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees based on pregnancy or childbirth and providing civil penalties.

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

What This Bill Does

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

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. 2025-01-30 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Klimesh, Costello, and Petersen. S.J. 170 .

  2. 2025-01-23 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Health and Human Services. S.J. 134 .

Official Summary Text

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

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

134

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

134

BY

PETERSEN

,

WINCKLER

,

STAED

,

CELSI

,

DONAHUE

,

DOTZLER

,

TOWNSEND

,

WAHLS

,

BENNETT

,

and

WEINER

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

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134

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

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134

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

is

26

subject

to

a

civil

penalty

of

up

to

$750.

The

director

of

the

27

Iowa

office

of

civil

rights

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-

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S.F.

134

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-

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1698XS

(3)

91

je/js

3/

3