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SF487 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

A bill for an act relating to employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

Labor
Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE
Last action
2026-03-17
Official status
Subcommittee recommends passage.
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 employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

A bill for an act relating to employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

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. 2026-03-17 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  2. 2026-03-16 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/17/2026 8:00AM RM 103.

  3. 2026-03-12 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Weldon, Croken and Jeneary. H.J. 667 .

  4. 2026-03-09 Iowa Legislature

    Read first time, referred to Labor and Workforce. H.J. 604 .

  5. 2026-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Message from Senate. H.J. 552 .

  6. 2026-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Immediate message. S.J. 468 .

  7. 2026-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Passed Senate , yeas 29, nays 16. S.J. 463 .

  8. 2026-01-21 Iowa Legislature

    Placed on calendar.

  9. 2026-01-21 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 126 .

  10. 2026-01-20 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  11. 2026-01-15 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 01/20/2026 12:30PM Room 315.

  12. 2026-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Dickey, Schultz, and Townsend. S.J. 89 .

  13. 2026-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    * * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *

  14. 2025-06-16 Iowa Legislature

    Referred to Workforce. S.J. 1057 .

  15. 2025-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 411 .

  16. 2025-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 400 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to employer recordkeeping and auditing requirements for purposes of unemployment insurance and including applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1165 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

487

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

487

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

WORKFORCE

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

1165)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

employer

recordkeeping

and

auditing

1

requirements

for

purposes

of

unemployment

insurance

and

2

including

applicability

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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487

Section

1.

Section

96.11,

subsection

6,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

An

employing

unit

shall

keep

true

and

accurate

work

3

records,

containing

information

required

by

the

department.

4

The

records

shall

be

open

to

inspection

and

copying

by

an

5

authorized

representative

of

the

department

at

any

reasonable

6

time

and

as

often

as

necessary.

For

each

employee,

the

7

employing

unit

shall

keep

such

records

for

three

years

after

8

a

calendar

year

in

which

remuneration

that

the

records

relate

9

to

was

paid

to

the

employee.

If

the

employing

unit

did

not

10

pay

remuneration,

but

remuneration

was

due,

the

employer

shall

11

keep

such

records

for

three

years

after

the

calendar

year

in

12

which

remuneration

was

due.

An

authorized

representative

of

13

the

department

may

require

from

an

employing

unit

a

sworn

or

14

unsworn

report,

with

respect

to

individuals

employed

by

the

15

employing

unit,

which

the

department

deems

necessary

for

the

16

effective

administration

of

this

chapter

.

17

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

96.22

Employer

field

audits.

18

1.

The

department

shall

conduct

field

audits

of

employers

19

by

examining

employer

records

to

determine

compliance

with

20

this

chapter.

Such

audits

shall

be

carried

out

by

employer

21

field

auditors

employed

by

the

department.

Procedures

for

22

such

audits

shall

be

in

accordance

with

this

section.

The

23

department

may

establish

additional

procedures

for

employer

24

field

audits

consistent

with

this

section

by

rule.

25

2.

Prior

to

an

employer

field

audit,

the

department

shall

26

give

the

employer

reasonable

notice

of

the

intent

to

audit

and

27

conduct

an

in-person

preaudit

interview

with

the

employer

or

28

a

designated

representative

of

the

employer

at

the

employer’s

29

place

of

business

or

an

alternative

location

mutually

agreed

30

upon

by

the

employer

and

the

department.

The

employer

and

31

the

department

may

mutually

agree

to

conduct

the

preaudit

32

interview

through

alternative

means,

including

but

not

limited

33

to

telephone,

facsimile,

electronic

mail,

or

video

conference.

34

3.

Employer

records

subject

to

an

employer

field

audit,

35

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487

if

such

records

are

maintained

by

the

employer,

may

include

1

individual

pay

records,

federal

internal

revenue

service

forms

2

W-2

and

1099,

cash

disbursement

journals

and

check

registers

3

or

the

electronic

equivalent

thereof,

federal

and

state

tax

4

returns,

and

other

records

required

by

this

section.

5

4.

To

verify

the

correct

business

entity

is

listed

in

6

department

files,

the

employer

field

auditor

may

examine

7

business

licenses

of

the

employer

or

legal

documents

related

8

to

the

initial

establishment

of

the

business

entity

or

to

9

any

employee

to

whom

the

applicability

of

this

chapter

is

in

10

question.

11

5.

To

verify

proper

compliance

by

the

employer

with

12

reporting

requirements

of

the

department,

an

employer

field

13

auditor

shall

conduct

and

document

a

detailed

audit

of

check

14

stubs,

weekly

time

cards,

the

electronic

equivalent

of

such

15

documents,

or

other

maintained

source

documents

for

at

least

16

one

employee

for

at

least

one

quarter.

The

detailed

audit

may

17

be

more

comprehensive

than

provided

in

this

subsection

if

the

18

employer

field

auditor

finds

discrepancies

in

such

records.

19

6.

The

department

shall

establish

procedures

for

an

20

employer

to

contest

an

employer

field

auditor’s

decision

21

regarding

the

applicability

of

this

chapter

to

an

employee.

22

In

any

disputed

case,

the

employer

field

auditor

may,

at

the

23

discretion

of

the

presiding

officer,

be

granted

access

to

24

records

to

determine

the

remuneration

paid

for

any

calendar

25

quarter

at

issue

occurring

within

three

years

prior

to

the

26

department’s

issuance

to

the

employer

of

a

notice

of

intent

to

27

audit.

28

Sec.

3.

APPLICABILITY.

The

section

of

this

Act

enacting

29

section

96.22

applies

to

audits

conducted

by

the

department

of

30

workforce

development

pursuant

to

chapter

96

commencing

on

or

31

after

the

effective

date

of

this

Act.

32

EXPLANATION

33

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

34

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

35

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This

bill

relates

to

employer

recordkeeping

and

auditing

1

requirements

for

purposes

of

unemployment

insurance

under

Code

2

chapter

96.

Current

requirements

for

these

matters

are

largely

3

set

out

in

rules

of

the

department

of

workforce

development.

4

The

bill

requires

that

an

employing

unit

keep

records

5

regarding

an

employee

that

are

required

for

purposes

of

6

unemployment

compensation

for

three

years

after

a

calendar

7

year

in

which

remuneration

that

the

records

relate

to

was

8

paid

to

the

employee.

If

the

employing

unit

did

not

pay

9

remuneration,

but

remuneration

was

due,

the

employer

shall

keep

10

records

regarding

an

employee

that

are

required

for

purposes

of

11

unemployment

compensation

for

three

years

after

the

calendar

12

year

in

which

remuneration

was

due.

13

The

bill

requires

the

department

to

conduct

field

audits

of

14

employers

by

examining

employer

records

to

determine

compliance

15

with

Code

chapter

96

and

establishes

procedures

for

such

16

audits.

Such

audits

shall

be

carried

out

by

employer

field

17

auditors

employed

by

the

department.

The

bill

authorizes

the

18

department

to

establish

additional

procedures

for

employer

19

field

audits

by

rule.

20

The

bill

requires

the

department

to

give

the

employer

21

reasonable

notice

of

the

intent

to

audit

and

provides

22

procedures

for

a

preaudit

interview

with

the

employer.

23

The

bill

provides

that

records

that

may

be

subject

to

audit

24

include

individual

pay

records,

W-2

and

1099

forms,

cash

25

disbursement

journals

and

check

registers

or

the

electronic

26

equivalent

thereof,

federal

and

state

tax

returns,

business

27

licenses

of

the

employer,

and

legal

documents

related

to

the

28

initial

establishment

of

the

business

entity

or

to

any

employee

29

to

whom

the

applicability

of

Code

chapter

96

is

in

question.

30

The

bill

requires

an

employer

field

auditor

to

conduct

31

and

document

a

detailed

audit

of

check

stubs,

weekly

time

32

cards,

the

electronic

equivalent

of

such

documents,

or

33

other

maintained

source

documents

for

at

least

one

employee

34

for

at

least

one

quarter.

The

detailed

audit

may

be

more

35

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487

comprehensive

if

the

employer

field

auditor

finds

discrepancies

1

in

such

records.

2

The

bill

requires

the

department

to

establish

procedures

for

3

an

employer

to

contest

an

employer

field

auditor’s

decision

4

regarding

the

applicability

of

Code

chapter

96

to

an

employee.

5

The

bill

provides

that

in

any

disputed

case,

the

employer

field

6

auditor

may,

at

the

discretion

of

the

presiding

officer,

be

7

granted

access

to

records

to

determine

the

remuneration

paid

8

for

any

calendar

quarter

at

issue

occurring

within

three

years

9

prior

to

the

department’s

issuance

to

the

employer

of

a

notice

10

of

intent

to

audit.

11

The

provision

of

the

bill

relating

to

audits

applies

to

12

audits

conducted

by

the

department

of

workforce

development

13

pursuant

to

Code

chapter

96

commencing

on

or

after

the

14

effective

date

of

the

bill.

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