New hiring laws in Iowa for 2027: E-Verify for cities, counties and schools, a $10,000 false Social Security number penalty, local civil rights limits and what employers do next

As of November 2026, Iowa's largest hiring change of 2026 is Senate File 2218 (2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1156), in force since July 1, 2026. It bars every employer in Iowa from hiring or keeping an employee it knows gave it a Social Security number that is not theirs, with a $10,000 civil penalty, and it requires E-Verify for new hires at cities, counties, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, state agencies, the Regents universities and the Legislature, with federal SAVE checks for professional license applicants. Earlier in the year, Senate File 579 (March 10, 2026) barred city civil rights ordinances broader than the Iowa Civil Rights Act, House File 2254 (June 2, 2026) ended non-competes for clinicians at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and House File 2337 (July 1, 2026) made faking a degree or license to get a job a fraudulent practice.

Iowa passed no pay transparency, salary history or ban-the-box law, private businesses other than schools still have no E-Verify mandate, and the minimum wage stays at $7.25. Each item below links to the chapter in the 2026 Iowa Acts on the Legislature's site; Iowa acts take effect July 1 unless they say otherwise, under Iowa Code 3.7. The standing checklist (unemployment account, the IA W-4, 15-day new-hire reports, the Iowa Code 730.5 drug testing rules) is in our Iowa hiring hub; this page is the dated list of what is new.

Which Iowa hiring laws changed in 2026, and what changes in 2027?

Iowa acts and the federal rules that apply to Iowa employers, sorted by date.

What does Senate File 2218 require of every Iowa employer?

Division II of Senate File 2218, approved June 2, 2026, adds Iowa Code chapter 91F. It defines an employer as "a person who employs an employee in this state for wages" and says: "An employer shall not hire or continue to employ an employee who the employer knows to have provided the employer with a social security number on any documentation for employment that does not belong to the employee." Iowa Workforce Development enforces it with a civil penalty of $10,000. For a fourth or later violation, the employer must also stop operations at the location until its majority owners and all managers there complete the department's training. The act also makes it a fraudulent practice under Iowa Code 714.8 for an applicant to give a Social Security number that is not theirs to get or keep a job, and for an employer to knowingly hand a potential employee a fraudulent number.

The standard is knowledge, so the risk sits in what HR does with red flags. Do not treat a Social Security Administration mismatch letter as proof by itself, and do not demand extra documents from some workers and not others, which federal anti-discrimination rules forbid; the federal steps are in SSA no-match letters for employers and Form I-9 document abuse. Document how each concern was resolved.

Which Iowa employers must use E-Verify since July 1, 2026?

Public employers and most schools. Division III requires E-Verify "to confirm the employment eligibility of newly hired employees" at each house of the General Assembly and the legislative services agency, the ombudsman, executive branch departments and agencies, the Board of Regents and its universities, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter and innovation zone schools, counties and cities. If a check shows a person lacks legal status after any appeal, the employer must send the result to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An employee of a school, city, county or the executive branch has ten calendar days to challenge a result with the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, which must decide within seven; legislative employees go to the Legislative Council. The duties are suspended while the federal government does not give the state access to E-Verify or SAVE.

The federal E-Verify rules still govern each case, including the employee's right to contest a tentative nonconfirmation; see E-Verify tentative nonconfirmation and the E-Verify memorandum of understanding. Executive Order 15 of 2025, which first required E-Verify at state agencies and the Regents, is covered in E-Verify requirements in Iowa; Senate File 2218 now puts that duty, and the wider public employer list, into statute.

What changed for licenses, credentials and school hiring?

• Professional licenses. SF 2218 creates a SAVE program clearinghouse in the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, and a licensing board under Iowa Code chapter 272C "shall not issue or renew a professional license to an individual who the licensing board is unable to verify is lawfully present in the United States." Build that check into timelines for licensed hires who are not U.S. citizens.
• Educators. The Board of Educational Examiners must require initial and renewal applicants to show legal authorization to work, using the same kinds of documents as Form I-9 (a List A document, or List C plus List B), for applications submitted on or after July 1, 2026.
• Fake degrees and licenses. House File 2337 makes it a fraudulent practice, "for the purpose of obtaining employment," to knowingly claim an academic degree or credential one does not have (fraudulent practice in the fifth degree) or a professional or occupational license regulated under chapter 272C (third degree). Verify degrees and licenses at the source before an offer.
• Career and technical teachers. Senate File 2168 has the Board of Educational Examiners let a candidate obtain a career and technical secondary authorization before accepting a school's offer, limits qualifications to 3,000 hours of recent and relevant experience and limits initial training to ethics.

Can Iowa cities still have their own civil rights ordinances?

Only within state law. Senate File 579, effective on enactment March 10, 2026, amends Iowa Code 216.19: "A city or local government shall not enact any ordinance or other law which is broader or has different categories of unfair or discriminatory practices than those provided in this chapter." A city of 29,000 or more now "may" keep a local civil rights commission, complaints against a political subdivision go to the Iowa Office of Civil Rights, and a party can move a complaint unresolved after twelve months to the state office. If your policies follow a city ordinance's extra categories, confirm with counsel which still apply, and keep following the Iowa Civil Rights Act and federal law. Iowa Code 364.3 already barred city rules on pay history and hiring questions; see Iowa salary history rules and Iowa ban-the-box.

What changed for non-competes at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics?

House File 2254, effective on enactment June 2, 2026, has the Board of Regents adopt a policy barring UIHC from including a non-compete in an employment contract with an advanced registered nurse practitioner, licensed practical nurse, pharmacist, physician, physician assistant or registered nurse, for contracts entered into, extended or renewed from that date. Other Iowa employers still face the common-law test in Iowa non-compete law, so ask clinicians leaving UIHC when their contract was signed or renewed.

What did not change in Iowa?

• Minimum wage. Still $7.25 under Iowa Code 91D.1.
• No pay range law; see the Iowa pay transparency guide.
• Criminal history. No ban-the-box rule; with the EEOC guidance rescinded, a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) is still a sound way to decide; see Iowa background check laws.
• Federal contractors. The FAR E-Verify clause, FAR 52.222-54, is separate from the OFCCP rule removal and still binds covered federal contractors.
• Drug testing and recording. See Iowa drug testing laws and Iowa recording consent for interviews.

What should Iowa employers do before January 1, 2027?

1. Write a procedure for Social Security number problems that applies the same steps to every worker and records how each was resolved.
2. Public employers and nonpublic schools: confirm E-Verify enrollment and a case for every hire since July 1, 2026, and set up the ten-day appeal notice.
3. Verify degrees and licenses at the source before offers, and allow time for SAVE checks on license applicants.
4. Review policies that cite city ordinances after Senate File 579.
5. Check Form I-9 versions and EAD reverification dates; see Form I-9 reverification.
6. Remove references to the 2012 EEOC guidance from background check procedures.

What does this mean for staffing agencies in Iowa?

The Social Security number rule applies to an agency as the employer of its temporary workers, so recruiters need the same consistent mismatch process as any employer; see Form I-9 for staffing agencies. The new E-Verify duty attaches to a public client's own new hires, but cities, counties and schools may now ask agencies how placed workers were verified; see E-Verify for staffing agencies. Health care staffing firms placing licensed staff should plan for SAVE checks at licensing. Agency licensing is unchanged; see our Iowa staffing agency guide and employer of record in Iowa. Other states' 2027 changes are in new hiring laws for 2027.