August 2024 Iowa Q&A Roundup

Q         A former employee who was fired has requested a copy of her personnel file. What documents would she be entitled to receive?

What an ex-employee can access in their file varies by state. In Iowa, people who are no longer employed aren’t entitled to access a personnel file. They do have to receive the standard payroll stubs, tax information, and similar data. In many instances, Iowa employers will still provide a personnel file if asked to assist the terminated employee. In health care, a former employee may be able to show they cleared a background check, don’t have TB as of the time of last testing, or are current on state-mandated training by using the prior file. Many states require you to allow access for a certain period, such as three years, post-termination. A good rule of thumb is that anything they would have had access to when employed—such as job description, training records, discipline, and wage or benefit changes—they might be able to access after leaving. In most instances, they are not “owed” the names of those who may have made complaints, otherwise confidential documents, blank forms, or investigative notes.

Q       How frequently can a nursing mother take breaks to pump under the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act? For example, although the law requires “reasonable break time,” what if an employee needs to pump every 30 minutes or every hour?