91B.1 Files--access by employees.

An employee, as defined in section 91A.2, shall have access to and shall be permitted to obtain a copy of the employee's personnel file maintained by the employee's employer, as defined in section 91A.2, including but not limited to performance evaluations, disciplinary records, and other information concerning employer-employee relations.

However, an employee's access to a personnel file is subject to all of the following:

1. The employer and employee shall agree on the time the employee may have access to the employee's personnel file, and a representative of the employer may be present.

2. An employee shall not have access to employment references written for the employee.

3. An employer may charge a reasonable fee for each page of a copy made by the employer for an employee of an item in the employee's personnel file. For purposes of this subsection, "reasonable fee" means an amount equivalent to an amount charged per page for copies made by a commercial copying business.

91B.2 Information provided by employers about current or former employees--immunity.

1. An employer or an employer's representative who, upon request by or authorization of a current or former employee or upon request made by a person who in good faith is believed to be a representative of a prospective employer of a current or former employee, provides work-related information about a current or former employee, is immune from civil liability unless the employer or the employer's representative acted unreasonably in providing the work-related information.

2. For purposes of this section, an employer acts unreasonably if any of the following are present:

a. The work-related information violates a civil right of the current or former employee.

b. The work-related information knowingly is provided to a person who has no legitimate and common interest in receiving the work-related information.

c. The work-related information is not relevant to the inquiry being made, is provided with malice, or is provided with no good faith belief that it is true.

3. For purposes of this section, "employer" and "employee" are defined as provided in section 91A.2.