96.11 DUTIES, POWERS, RULES -- PRIVILEGE.
1. Duties and powers of director. It shall be the duty of
the director to administer this chapter; and the director shall have
power and authority to adopt, amend, or rescind pursuant to chapter
17A such rules, to employ such persons, make such expenditures,
require such reports, make such investigations, and take such other
action as the director deems necessary or suitable to that end. Not
later than the fifteenth day of December of each year, the director
shall submit to the governor a report covering the administration and
operation of this chapter during the preceding fiscal year and shall
make such recommendations for amendments to this chapter as the
director deems proper. Such report shall include a balance sheet of
the moneys in the fund. Whenever the director believes that a change
in contribution or benefits rates will become necessary to protect
the solvency of the fund, the director shall promptly so inform the
governor and the legislature, and make recommendations with respect
thereto.
2. General and special rules. Each employer shall post and
maintain printed statements of all rules of the department in places
readily accessible to individuals in the employer's service, and
shall make available to each such individual at the time the
individual becomes unemployed a printed statement of such rules
relating to the filing of claims for benefits. Such printed
statements shall be supplied by the department to each employer
without cost to the employer.
3. Publications.a. The director shall cause to be printed for distribution to
the public the text of this chapter, the department's general rules,
its annual reports to the governor, and any other material the
director deems relevant and suitable and shall furnish the same to
any person upon application therefor.
b. The department shall prepare and distribute to the public
as labor force data, only that data adjusted according to the current
population survey and other nonlabor force statistics which the
department determines are of interest to the public.
4. Bonds. The director may bond any employee handling moneys
or signing checks.
5. Employment stabilization. The director, with the advice
and aid of the appropriate bureaus of the department, shall take all
appropriate steps to reduce and prevent unemployment; to encourage
and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational
training, retraining and vocational guidance; to investigate,
recommend, advise, and assist in the establishment and operation, by
municipalities, counties, school districts, and the state, of
reserves for public works to be used in times of business depression
and unemployment; to promote the reemployment of unemployed workers
throughout the state in every other way that may be feasible; and to
these ends to carry on and publish the results of investigations and
research studies.
6. Records, reports, and confidentiality.a. An employing unit shall keep true and accurate work
records, containing information required by the department. The
records shall be open to inspection and copying by an authorized
representative of the department at any reasonable time and as often
as necessary. An authorized representative of the department may
require from an employing unit a sworn or unsworn report, with
respect to individuals employed by the employing unit, which the
department deems necessary for the effective administration of this
chapter.
b. (1) The department shall hold confidential the information
obtained from an employing unit or individual in the course of
administering this chapter and the initial determination made by a
representative of the department under section 96.6, subsection 2, as
to the benefit rights of an individual. The department shall not
disclose or open this information for public inspection in a manner
that reveals the identity of the employing unit or the individual,
except as provided in subparagraph (3) or paragraph "c".
(2) A report or statement, whether written or verbal, made by a
person to a representative of the department or to another person
administering this law is a privileged communication. A person is
not liable for slander or libel on account of the report or statement
unless the report or statement is made with malice.
(3) Information obtained from an employing unit or individual in
the course of administering this chapter and an initial determination
made by a representative of the department under section 96.6,
subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual shall not be used
in any action or proceeding, except in a contested case proceeding or
judicial review under chapter 17A. However, the department shall
make information, which is obtained from an employing unit or
individual in the course of administering this chapter and which
relates to the employment and wage history of the individual,
available to a county attorney for the county attorney's use in the
performance of duties under section 331.756, subsection 5, or section
602.8107. The department shall make such information electronically
accessible to the county attorney at the county attorney's office, if
requested, provided the county attorney's office pays the cost of the
installation of the equipment to provide such access. Information in
the department's possession which may affect a claim for benefits or
a change in an employer's rating account shall be made available to
the interested parties. The information may be used by the
interested parties in a proceeding under this chapter to the extent
necessary for the proper presentation or defense of a claim.
(4) The department shall hold confidential unemployment insurance
information received by the department from an unemployment insurance
agency of another state.
c. Subject to conditions as the department by rule
prescribes, information obtained from an employing unit or individual
in the course of administering this chapter and an initial
determination made by a representative of the department under
section 96.6, subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual may
be made available for purposes consistent with the purposes of this
chapter to any of the following:
(1) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of an unemployment compensation
law or the maintenance of a system of public employment offices.
(2) The internal revenue service of the United States department
of the treasury.
(3) The Iowa department of revenue.
(4) The social security administration of the United States
department of health and human services.
(5) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of public works or the
administration of public assistance to unemployed individuals.
(6) Colleges, universities, and public agencies of this state for
use in connection with research of a public nature, provided the
department does not reveal the identity of an employing unit or
individual.
(7) An employee of the department, a member of the general
assembly, or a member of the United States Congress in connection
with the employee's or member's official duties.
(8) The United States department of housing and urban development
and representatives of a public housing agency.
d. Upon request of an agency of this or another state or of
the federal government which administers or operates a program of
public assistance or child support enforcement under either the law
of this or another state or federal law, or which is charged with a
duty or responsibility under the program, and if the agency is
required by law to impose safeguards for the confidentiality of
information at least as effective as required under this subsection,
then the department shall provide to the requesting agency, with
respect to any named individual without regard to paragraph "g",
any of the following information:
(1) Whether the individual is receiving or has received benefits,
or has made an application for benefits under this chapter.
(2) The period, if any, for which benefits were payable and the
weekly benefit amount.
(3) The individual's most recent address.
(4) Whether the individual has refused an offer of employment,
and, if so, the date of the refusal and a description of the
employment refused, including duties, conditions of employment, and
the rate of pay.
(5) The individual's wage information.
e. The department may require an agency which is provided
information under this subsection to reimburse the department for the
costs of furnishing the information.
f. A public official or an agent or contractor of a public
official who receives information pursuant to this subsection or a
third party other than an agent who acts on behalf of a claimant or
employer and who violates this subsection is guilty, upon conviction,
of a serious misdemeanor. For the purposes of this subsection,
"public official" means an official or employee within the
executive branch of federal, state, or local government, or an
elected official of the federal or a state or local government.
g. Information subject to the confidentiality of this
subsection shall not be directly released to any authorized agency
unless an attempt is made to provide written notification to the
individual involved. Information released in accordance with
criminal investigations by a law enforcement agency of this state,
another state, or the federal government is exempt from this
requirement.
h. The department and its employees shall not be liable for
any acts or omissions resulting from the release of information to
any person pursuant to this subsection.
7. Oaths and witnesses. In the discharge of the duties
imposed by this chapter, the chairperson of the appeal board and any
duly authorized representative of the department shall have power to
administer oaths and affirmations, take depositions, certify to
official acts, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of
witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence,
memoranda, and other records deemed necessary as evidence in
connection with a disputed claim or the administration of this
chapter.
8. Subpoenas. In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a
subpoena issued to any person, any court of this state within the
jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or within the
jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to
obey is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by
the department, or any member or duly authorized representative
thereof, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order
requiring such person to appear before the department or any member
or duly authorized representative thereof to produce evidence if so
ordered or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation
or in question; any failure to obey such order of the court may be
punished by said court as a contempt thereof.
9. Protection against self-incrimination. No person shall be
excused from attending and testifying or from producing books,
papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records before the
department, or the appeal board, or in obedience to a subpoena in any
cause or proceeding provided for in this chapter, on the ground that
the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of the
person may tend to incriminate the person or subject the person to a
penalty for forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or
subjected to any penalty of forfeiture for or on account of any
transaction, matter, or thing concerning which the individual is
compelled, after having claimed privilege against self-incrimination,
to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that
such individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution
and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.
10. State-federal cooperation.a. In the administration of this chapter, the department
shall cooperate with the United States department of labor to the
fullest extent consistent with the provisions of this chapter, and
shall take such action, through the adoption of appropriate rules,
regulations, administrative methods and standards, as may be
necessary to secure to this state and its citizens all advantages
available under the provisions of the Social Security Act that relate
to unemployment compensation, the federal Unemployment Tax Act, the
Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970.
b. In the administration of the provisions of section 96.29
which are enacted to conform with the requirements of the
Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, the
department shall take such action as may be necessary to insure that
the provisions are so interpreted and applied as to meet the
requirements of such federal Act as interpreted by the United States
department of labor, and to secure to this state the full
reimbursement of the federal share of extended benefits paid under
this chapter that are reimbursable under the federal Act.
c. The department shall make such reports, in such form and
containing such information as the United States department of labor
may from time to time require, and shall comply with such provisions
as the United States department of labor may from time to time find
necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports;
and shall comply with the regulations prescribed by the United States
department of labor governing the expenditures of such sums as may be
allotted and paid to this state under Title III of the Social
Security Act for the purpose of assisting in administration of this
chapter.
d. The department may make its records relating to the
administration of this chapter available to the railroad retirement
board, and may furnish the railroad retirement board such copies
thereof as the railroad retirement board deems necessary for its
purposes. The department may afford reasonable cooperation with
every agency of the United States charged with the administration of
any unemployment insurance law. The railroad retirement board or any
other agency requiring such services and reports from the department
shall pay the department such compensation therefor as the department
determines to be fair and reasonable.
11. Destruction of records. The department may destroy or
dispose of such original reports or records as have been properly
recorded or summarized in the permanent records of the department and
are deemed by the director and the state records commission to be no
longer necessary to the proper administration of this chapter. Wage
records of the individual worker or transcripts therefrom may be
destroyed or disposed of, if approved by the state records
commission, two years after the expiration of the period covered by
such wage records or upon proof of the death of the worker. Such
destruction or disposition shall be made only by order of the
director in consultation with the state records commission. Any
moneys received from the disposition of such records shall be
deposited to the credit of the employment security administration
fund, subject to rules promulgated by the department.
12. Unemployment benefits contested case hearing records.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17A.12 to the contrary, the
recording of oral proceedings of a hearing conducted before an
administrative law judge pursuant to section 96.6, subsection 3, in
which the decision of the administrative law judge is not appealed to
the employment appeal board, shall be filed with and maintained by
the department for at least two years from the date of decision.
13. Purging uncollectible overpayments. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the department shall review all
outstanding overpayments of benefit payments annually. The
department may determine as uncollectible and purge from its records
any remaining unpaid balances of outstanding overpayments which are
ten years or older from the date of the overpayment decision.
14. Access to available jobs list. The department shall make
available for consultation by the public, at each of the department's
offices, a list of current job openings listed with the department,
provided that the list shall comply with the confidentiality
requirements of subsection 6, or those mandated by the federal
government.
15. Special contractor numbers. For purposes of contractor
registration under chapter 91C, the department shall provide for the
issuance of special contractor numbers to contractors for whom
employer accounts are not required under this chapter. A contractor
who is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter shall
not be issued a special contractor number.
16. Reimbursement of setoff costs. The department shall
include in the amount set off in accordance with section 8A.504, for
the collection of an overpayment created pursuant to section 96.3,
subsection 7, or section 96.16, subsection 4, an additional amount
for the reimbursement of setoff costs incurred by the department of
administrative services.
96.11 DUTIES, POWERS, RULES -- PRIVILEGE.
1. Duties and powers of director. It shall be the duty of
the director to administer this chapter; and the director shall have
power and authority to adopt, amend, or rescind pursuant to chapter
17A such rules, to employ such persons, make such expenditures,
require such reports, make such investigations, and take such other
action as the director deems necessary or suitable to that end. Not
later than the fifteenth day of December of each year, the director
shall submit to the governor a report covering the administration and
operation of this chapter during the preceding fiscal year and shall
make such recommendations for amendments to this chapter as the
director deems proper. Such report shall include a balance sheet of
the moneys in the fund. Whenever the director believes that a change
in contribution or benefits rates will become necessary to protect
the solvency of the fund, the director shall promptly so inform the
governor and the legislature, and make recommendations with respect
thereto.
2. General and special rules. Each employer shall post and
maintain printed statements of all rules of the department in places
readily accessible to individuals in the employer's service, and
shall make available to each such individual at the time the
individual becomes unemployed a printed statement of such rules
relating to the filing of claims for benefits. Such printed
statements shall be supplied by the department to each employer
without cost to the employer.
3. Publications.a. The director shall cause to be printed for distribution to
the public the text of this chapter, the department's general rules,
its annual reports to the governor, and any other material the
director deems relevant and suitable and shall furnish the same to
any person upon application therefor.
b. The department shall prepare and distribute to the public
as labor force data, only that data adjusted according to the current
population survey and other nonlabor force statistics which the
department determines are of interest to the public.
4. Bonds. The director may bond any employee handling moneys
or signing checks.
5. Employment stabilization. The director, with the advice
and aid of the appropriate bureaus of the department, shall take all
appropriate steps to reduce and prevent unemployment; to encourage
and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational
training, retraining and vocational guidance; to investigate,
recommend, advise, and assist in the establishment and operation, by
municipalities, counties, school districts, and the state, of
reserves for public works to be used in times of business depression
and unemployment; to promote the reemployment of unemployed workers
throughout the state in every other way that may be feasible; and to
these ends to carry on and publish the results of investigations and
research studies.
6. Records, reports, and confidentiality.a. An employing unit shall keep true and accurate work
records, containing information required by the department. The
records shall be open to inspection and copying by an authorized
representative of the department at any reasonable time and as often
as necessary. An authorized representative of the department may
require from an employing unit a sworn or unsworn report, with
respect to individuals employed by the employing unit, which the
department deems necessary for the effective administration of this
chapter.
b. (1) The department shall hold confidential the information
obtained from an employing unit or individual in the course of
administering this chapter and the initial determination made by a
representative of the department under section 96.6, subsection 2, as
to the benefit rights of an individual. The department shall not
disclose or open this information for public inspection in a manner
that reveals the identity of the employing unit or the individual,
except as provided in subparagraph (3) or paragraph "c".
(2) A report or statement, whether written or verbal, made by a
person to a representative of the department or to another person
administering this law is a privileged communication. A person is
not liable for slander or libel on account of the report or statement
unless the report or statement is made with malice.
(3) Information obtained from an employing unit or individual in
the course of administering this chapter and an initial determination
made by a representative of the department under section 96.6,
subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual shall not be used
in any action or proceeding, except in a contested case proceeding or
judicial review under chapter 17A. However, the department shall
make information, which is obtained from an employing unit or
individual in the course of administering this chapter and which
relates to the employment and wage history of the individual,
available to a county attorney for the county attorney's use in the
performance of duties under section 331.756, subsection 5, or section
602.8107. The department shall make such information electronically
accessible to the county attorney at the county attorney's office, if
requested, provided the county attorney's office pays the cost of the
installation of the equipment to provide such access. Information in
the department's possession which may affect a claim for benefits or
a change in an employer's rating account shall be made available to
the interested parties. The information may be used by the
interested parties in a proceeding under this chapter to the extent
necessary for the proper presentation or defense of a claim.
(4) The department shall hold confidential unemployment insurance
information received by the department from an unemployment insurance
agency of another state.
c. Subject to conditions as the department by rule
prescribes, information obtained from an employing unit or individual
in the course of administering this chapter and an initial
determination made by a representative of the department under
section 96.6, subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual may
be made available for purposes consistent with the purposes of this
chapter to any of the following:
(1) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of an unemployment compensation
law or the maintenance of a system of public employment offices.
(2) The internal revenue service of the United States department
of the treasury.
(3) The Iowa department of revenue.
(4) The social security administration of the United States
department of health and human services.
(5) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of public works or the
administration of public assistance to unemployed individuals.
(6) Colleges, universities, and public agencies of this state for
use in connection with research of a public nature, provided the
department does not reveal the identity of an employing unit or
individual.
(7) An employee of the department, a member of the general
assembly, or a member of the United States Congress in connection
with the employee's or member's official duties.
(8) The United States department of housing and urban development
and representatives of a public housing agency.
d. Upon request of an agency of this or another state or of
the federal government which administers or operates a program of
public assistance or child support enforcement under either the law
of this or another state or federal law, or which is charged with a
duty or responsibility under the program, and if the agency is
required by law to impose safeguards for the confidentiality of
information at least as effective as required under this subsection,
then the department shall provide to the requesting agency, with
respect to any named individual without regard to paragraph "g",
any of the following information:
(1) Whether the individual is receiving or has received benefits,
or has made an application for benefits under this chapter.
(2) The period, if any, for which benefits were payable and the
weekly benefit amount.
(3) The individual's most recent address.
(4) Whether the individual has refused an offer of employment,
and, if so, the date of the refusal and a description of the
employment refused, including duties, conditions of employment, and
the rate of pay.
(5) The individual's wage information.
e. The department may require an agency which is provided
information under this subsection to reimburse the department for the
costs of furnishing the information.
f. A public official or an agent or contractor of a public
official who receives information pursuant to this subsection or a
third party other than an agent who acts on behalf of a claimant or
employer and who violates this subsection is guilty, upon conviction,
of a serious misdemeanor. For the purposes of this subsection,
"public official" means an official or employee within the
executive branch of federal, state, or local government, or an
elected official of the federal or a state or local government.
g. Information subject to the confidentiality of this
subsection shall not be directly released to any authorized agency
unless an attempt is made to provide written notification to the
individual involved. Information released in accordance with
criminal investigations by a law enforcement agency of this state,
another state, or the federal government is exempt from this
requirement.
h. The department and its employees shall not be liable for
any acts or omissions resulting from the release of information to
any person pursuant to this subsection.
7. Oaths and witnesses. In the discharge of the duties
imposed by this chapter, the chairperson of the appeal board and any
duly authorized representative of the department shall have power to
administer oaths and affirmations, take depositions, certify to
official acts, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of
witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence,
memoranda, and other records deemed necessary as evidence in
connection with a disputed claim or the administration of this
chapter.
8. Subpoenas. In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a
subpoena issued to any person, any court of this state within the
jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or within the
jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to
obey is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by
the department, or any member or duly authorized representative
thereof, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order
requiring such person to appear before the department or any member
or duly authorized representative thereof to produce evidence if so
ordered or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation
or in question; any failure to obey such order of the court may be
punished by said court as a contempt thereof.
9. Protection against self-incrimination. No person shall be
excused from attending and testifying or from producing books,
papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records before the
department, or the appeal board, or in obedience to a subpoena in any
cause or proceeding provided for in this chapter, on the ground that
the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of the
person may tend to incriminate the person or subject the person to a
penalty for forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or
subjected to any penalty of forfeiture for or on account of any
transaction, matter, or thing concerning which the individual is
compelled, after having claimed privilege against self-incrimination,
to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that
such individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution
and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.
10. State-federal cooperation.a. In the administration of this chapter, the department
shall cooperate with the United States department of labor to the
fullest extent consistent with the provisions of this chapter, and
shall take such action, through the adoption of appropriate rules,
regulations, administrative methods and standards, as may be
necessary to secure to this state and its citizens all advantages
available under the provisions of the Social Security Act that relate
to unemployment compensation, the federal Unemployment Tax Act, the
Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970.
b. In the administration of the provisions of section 96.29
which are enacted to conform with the requirements of the
Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, the
department shall take such action as may be necessary to insure that
the provisions are so interpreted and applied as to meet the
requirements of such federal Act as interpreted by the United States
department of labor, and to secure to this state the full
reimbursement of the federal share of extended benefits paid under
this chapter that are reimbursable under the federal Act.
c. The department shall make such reports, in such form and
containing such information as the United States department of labor
may from time to time require, and shall comply with such provisions
as the United States department of labor may from time to time find
necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports;
and shall comply with the regulations prescribed by the United States
department of labor governing the expenditures of such sums as may be
allotted and paid to this state under Title III of the Social
Security Act for the purpose of assisting in administration of this
chapter.
d. The department may make its records relating to the
administration of this chapter available to the railroad retirement
board, and may furnish the railroad retirement board such copies
thereof as the railroad retirement board deems necessary for its
purposes. The department may afford reasonable cooperation with
every agency of the United States charged with the administration of
any unemployment insurance law. The railroad retirement board or any
other agency requiring such services and reports from the department
shall pay the department such compensation therefor as the department
determines to be fair and reasonable.
11. Destruction of records. The department may destroy or
dispose of such original reports or records as have been properly
recorded or summarized in the permanent records of the department and
are deemed by the director and the state records commission to be no
longer necessary to the proper administration of this chapter. Wage
records of the individual worker or transcripts therefrom may be
destroyed or disposed of, if approved by the state records
commission, two years after the expiration of the period covered by
such wage records or upon proof of the death of the worker. Such
destruction or disposition shall be made only by order of the
director in consultation with the state records commission. Any
moneys received from the disposition of such records shall be
deposited to the credit of the employment security administration
fund, subject to rules promulgated by the department.
12. Unemployment benefits contested case hearing records.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17A.12 to the contrary, the
recording of oral proceedings of a hearing conducted before an
administrative law judge pursuant to section 96.6, subsection 3, in
which the decision of the administrative law judge is not appealed to
the employment appeal board, shall be filed with and maintained by
the department for at least two years from the date of decision.
13. Purging uncollectible overpayments. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the department shall review all
outstanding overpayments of benefit payments annually. The
department may determine as uncollectible and purge from its records
any remaining unpaid balances of outstanding overpayments which are
ten years or older from the date of the overpayment decision.
14. Access to available jobs list. The department shall make
available for consultation by the public, at each of the department's
offices, a list of current job openings listed with the department,
provided that the list shall comply with the confidentiality
requirements of subsection 6, or those mandated by the federal
government.
15. Special contractor numbers. For purposes of contractor
registration under chapter 91C, the department shall provide for the
issuance of special contractor numbers to contractors for whom
employer accounts are not required under this chapter. A contractor
who is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter shall
not be issued a special contractor number.
16. Reimbursement of setoff costs. The department shall
include in the amount set off in accordance with section 8A.504, for
the collection of an overpayment created pursuant to section 96.3,
subsection 7, or section 96.16, subsection 4, an additional amount
for the reimbursement of setoff costs incurred by the department of
administrative services.
96.11 DUTIES, POWERS, RULES -- PRIVILEGE.
1. Duties and powers of director. It shall be the duty of
the director to administer this chapter; and the director shall have
power and authority to adopt, amend, or rescind pursuant to chapter
17A such rules, to employ such persons, make such expenditures,
require such reports, make such investigations, and take such other
action as the director deems necessary or suitable to that end. Not
later than the fifteenth day of December of each year, the director
shall submit to the governor a report covering the administration and
operation of this chapter during the preceding fiscal year and shall
make such recommendations for amendments to this chapter as the
director deems proper. Such report shall include a balance sheet of
the moneys in the fund. Whenever the director believes that a change
in contribution or benefits rates will become necessary to protect
the solvency of the fund, the director shall promptly so inform the
governor and the legislature, and make recommendations with respect
thereto.
2. General and special rules. Each employer shall post and
maintain printed statements of all rules of the department in places
readily accessible to individuals in the employer's service, and
shall make available to each such individual at the time the
individual becomes unemployed a printed statement of such rules
relating to the filing of claims for benefits. Such printed
statements shall be supplied by the department to each employer
without cost to the employer.
3. Publications.a. The director shall cause to be printed for distribution to
the public the text of this chapter, the department's general rules,
its annual reports to the governor, and any other material the
director deems relevant and suitable and shall furnish the same to
any person upon application therefor.
b. The department shall prepare and distribute to the public
as labor force data, only that data adjusted according to the current
population survey and other nonlabor force statistics which the
department determines are of interest to the public.
4. Bonds. The director may bond any employee handling moneys
or signing checks.
5. Employment stabilization. The director, with the advice
and aid of the appropriate bureaus of the department, shall take all
appropriate steps to reduce and prevent unemployment; to encourage
and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational
training, retraining and vocational guidance; to investigate,
recommend, advise, and assist in the establishment and operation, by
municipalities, counties, school districts, and the state, of
reserves for public works to be used in times of business depression
and unemployment; to promote the reemployment of unemployed workers
throughout the state in every other way that may be feasible; and to
these ends to carry on and publish the results of investigations and
research studies.
6. Records, reports, and confidentiality.a. An employing unit shall keep true and accurate work
records, containing information required by the department. The
records shall be open to inspection and copying by an authorized
representative of the department at any reasonable time and as often
as necessary. An authorized representative of the department may
require from an employing unit a sworn or unsworn report, with
respect to individuals employed by the employing unit, which the
department deems necessary for the effective administration of this
chapter.
b. (1) The department shall hold confidential the information
obtained from an employing unit or individual in the course of
administering this chapter and the initial determination made by a
representative of the department under section 96.6, subsection 2, as
to the benefit rights of an individual. The department shall not
disclose or open this information for public inspection in a manner
that reveals the identity of the employing unit or the individual,
except as provided in subparagraph (3) or paragraph "c".
(2) A report or statement, whether written or verbal, made by a
person to a representative of the department or to another person
administering this law is a privileged communication. A person is
not liable for slander or libel on account of the report or statement
unless the report or statement is made with malice.
(3) Information obtained from an employing unit or individual in
the course of administering this chapter and an initial determination
made by a representative of the department under section 96.6,
subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual shall not be used
in any action or proceeding, except in a contested case proceeding or
judicial review under chapter 17A. However, the department shall
make information, which is obtained from an employing unit or
individual in the course of administering this chapter and which
relates to the employment and wage history of the individual,
available to a county attorney for the county attorney's use in the
performance of duties under section 331.756, subsection 5, or section
602.8107. The department shall make such information electronically
accessible to the county attorney at the county attorney's office, if
requested, provided the county attorney's office pays the cost of the
installation of the equipment to provide such access. Information in
the department's possession which may affect a claim for benefits or
a change in an employer's rating account shall be made available to
the interested parties. The information may be used by the
interested parties in a proceeding under this chapter to the extent
necessary for the proper presentation or defense of a claim.
(4) The department shall hold confidential unemployment insurance
information received by the department from an unemployment insurance
agency of another state.
c. Subject to conditions as the department by rule
prescribes, information obtained from an employing unit or individual
in the course of administering this chapter and an initial
determination made by a representative of the department under
section 96.6, subsection 2, as to benefit rights of an individual may
be made available for purposes consistent with the purposes of this
chapter to any of the following:
(1) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of an unemployment compensation
law or the maintenance of a system of public employment offices.
(2) The internal revenue service of the United States department
of the treasury.
(3) The Iowa department of revenue.
(4) The social security administration of the United States
department of health and human services.
(5) An agency of this or any other state or a federal agency
responsible for the administration of public works or the
administration of public assistance to unemployed individuals.
(6) Colleges, universities, and public agencies of this state for
use in connection with research of a public nature, provided the
department does not reveal the identity of an employing unit or
individual.
(7) An employee of the department, a member of the general
assembly, or a member of the United States Congress in connection
with the employee's or member's official duties.
(8) The United States department of housing and urban development
and representatives of a public housing agency.
d. Upon request of an agency of this or another state or of
the federal government which administers or operates a program of
public assistance or child support enforcement under either the law
of this or another state or federal law, or which is charged with a
duty or responsibility under the program, and if the agency is
required by law to impose safeguards for the confidentiality of
information at least as effective as required under this subsection,
then the department shall provide to the requesting agency, with
respect to any named individual without regard to paragraph "g",
any of the following information:
(1) Whether the individual is receiving or has received benefits,
or has made an application for benefits under this chapter.
(2) The period, if any, for which benefits were payable and the
weekly benefit amount.
(3) The individual's most recent address.
(4) Whether the individual has refused an offer of employment,
and, if so, the date of the refusal and a description of the
employment refused, including duties, conditions of employment, and
the rate of pay.
(5) The individual's wage information.
e. The department may require an agency which is provided
information under this subsection to reimburse the department for the
costs of furnishing the information.
f. A public official or an agent or contractor of a public
official who receives information pursuant to this subsection or a
third party other than an agent who acts on behalf of a claimant or
employer and who violates this subsection is guilty, upon conviction,
of a serious misdemeanor. For the purposes of this subsection,
"public official" means an official or employee within the
executive branch of federal, state, or local government, or an
elected official of the federal or a state or local government.
g. Information subject to the confidentiality of this
subsection shall not be directly released to any authorized agency
unless an attempt is made to provide written notification to the
individual involved. Information released in accordance with
criminal investigations by a law enforcement agency of this state,
another state, or the federal government is exempt from this
requirement.
h. The department and its employees shall not be liable for
any acts or omissions resulting from the release of information to
any person pursuant to this subsection.
7. Oaths and witnesses. In the discharge of the duties
imposed by this chapter, the chairperson of the appeal board and any
duly authorized representative of the department shall have power to
administer oaths and affirmations, take depositions, certify to
official acts, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of
witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence,
memoranda, and other records deemed necessary as evidence in
connection with a disputed claim or the administration of this
chapter.
8. Subpoenas. In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a
subpoena issued to any person, any court of this state within the
jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or within the
jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to
obey is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by
the department, or any member or duly authorized representative
thereof, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order
requiring such person to appear before the department or any member
or duly authorized representative thereof to produce evidence if so
ordered or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation
or in question; any failure to obey such order of the court may be
punished by said court as a contempt thereof.
9. Protection against self-incrimination. No person shall be
excused from attending and testifying or from producing books,
papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records before the
department, or the appeal board, or in obedience to a subpoena in any
cause or proceeding provided for in this chapter, on the ground that
the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of the
person may tend to incriminate the person or subject the person to a
penalty for forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or
subjected to any penalty of forfeiture for or on account of any
transaction, matter, or thing concerning which the individual is
compelled, after having claimed privilege against self-incrimination,
to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that
such individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution
and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.
10. State-federal cooperation.a. In the administration of this chapter, the department
shall cooperate with the United States department of labor to the
fullest extent consistent with the provisions of this chapter, and
shall take such action, through the adoption of appropriate rules,
regulations, administrative methods and standards, as may be
necessary to secure to this state and its citizens all advantages
available under the provisions of the Social Security Act that relate
to unemployment compensation, the federal Unemployment Tax Act, the
Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970.
b. In the administration of the provisions of section 96.29
which are enacted to conform with the requirements of the
Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, the
department shall take such action as may be necessary to insure that
the provisions are so interpreted and applied as to meet the
requirements of such federal Act as interpreted by the United States
department of labor, and to secure to this state the full
reimbursement of the federal share of extended benefits paid under
this chapter that are reimbursable under the federal Act.
c. The department shall make such reports, in such form and
containing such information as the United States department of labor
may from time to time require, and shall comply with such provisions
as the United States department of labor may from time to time find
necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports;
and shall comply with the regulations prescribed by the United States
department of labor governing the expenditures of such sums as may be
allotted and paid to this state under Title III of the Social
Security Act for the purpose of assisting in administration of this
chapter.
d. The department may make its records relating to the
administration of this chapter available to the railroad retirement
board, and may furnish the railroad retirement board such copies
thereof as the railroad retirement board deems necessary for its
purposes. The department may afford reasonable cooperation with
every agency of the United States charged with the administration of
any unemployment insurance law. The railroad retirement board or any
other agency requiring such services and reports from the department
shall pay the department such compensation therefor as the department
determines to be fair and reasonable.
11. Destruction of records. The department may destroy or
dispose of such original reports or records as have been properly
recorded or summarized in the permanent records of the department and
are deemed by the director and the state records commission to be no
longer necessary to the proper administration of this chapter. Wage
records of the individual worker or transcripts therefrom may be
destroyed or disposed of, if approved by the state records
commission, two years after the expiration of the period covered by
such wage records or upon proof of the death of the worker. Such
destruction or disposition shall be made only by order of the
director in consultation with the state records commission. Any
moneys received from the disposition of such records shall be
deposited to the credit of the employment security administration
fund, subject to rules promulgated by the department.
12. Unemployment benefits contested case hearing records.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17A.12 to the contrary, the
recording of oral proceedings of a hearing conducted before an
administrative law judge pursuant to section 96.6, subsection 3, in
which the decision of the administrative law judge is not appealed to
the employment appeal board, shall be filed with and maintained by
the department for at least two years from the date of decision.
13. Purging uncollectible overpayments. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the department shall review all
outstanding overpayments of benefit payments annually. The
department may determine as uncollectible and purge from its records
any remaining unpaid balances of outstanding overpayments which are
ten years or older from the date of the overpayment decision.
14. Access to available jobs list. The department shall make
available for consultation by the public, at each of the department's
offices, a list of current job openings listed with the department,
provided that the list shall comply with the confidentiality
requirements of subsection 6, or those mandated by the federal
government.
15. Special contractor numbers. For purposes of contractor
registration under chapter 91C, the department shall provide for the
issuance of special contractor numbers to contractors for whom
employer accounts are not required under this chapter. A contractor
who is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter shall
not be issued a special contractor number.
16. Reimbursement of setoff costs. The department shall
include in the amount set off in accordance with section 8A.504, for
the collection of an overpayment created pursuant to section 96.3,
subsection 7, or section 96.16, subsection 4, an additional amount
for the reimbursement of setoff costs incurred by the department of
administrative services.
