EEOC offices in Iowa

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. EEOC investigates complaints regardless of immigration status — federal law protects undocumented workers too.

EEOC offices serving Iowa

Iowa is covered by an EEOC office in a neighboring state. Call 1-800-669-4000 to be routed to the correct office, or find your nearest EEOC office.

What EEOC handles

  • Discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation), national origin, age (40+), disability, or genetic information
  • Harassment including sexual harassment
  • Retaliation against workers who report discrimination
  • Equal Pay Act violations (gender-based pay differences)
  • Failure to accommodate disability or religious practice

How to file a charge

  1. Call 1-800-669-4000 (TTY 1-800-669-6820; ASL video phone 1-844-234-5122)
  2. File online at publicportal.eeoc.gov
  3. Visit a field office above (appointment recommended)
  4. Deadline: 300 days from the date of the alleged harm to file a charge with the EEOC — the deadline the agency itself publishes for Iowa on the Chicago District Office timeliness page, read 2026-09-09. The federal rule is 180 days, extended to 300 where a state or local anti-discrimination law covers the location of the alleged harm and the basis for the charge.

Immigration status note

EEOC investigates regardless of immigration status. Federal anti-discrimination laws protect all workers in the US, including undocumented workers — the EEOC states that Hoffman Plastic “in no way calls into question the settled principle that undocumented workers are covered by the federal employment discrimination statutes and that it is as illegal for employers to discriminate against them as it is to discriminate against individuals authorized to work.”

What the agency actually commits to on status. In its own words: “When enforcing these laws, EEOC will not, on its own initiative, inquire into a worker’s immigration status. Nor will EEOC consider an individual’s immigration status when examining the underlying merits of a charge.” That is EEOC policy and practice, not an absolute legal guarantee — it describes what the EEOC asks and weighs, it does not bind your employer, and the EEOC nowhere says that filing has no effect on an immigration case.

Remedies are not identical for everyone. After Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB (2002) the EEOC rescinded its 1999 guidance on remedies for undocumented workers, writing that “[t]he Court’s holding bars an award of backpay under the NLRA to an undocumented worker for any period following the termination of his or her employment,” and it has published no replacement guidance since — so post-termination back pay is off the table and what other monetary relief survives is unsettled. Source: EEOC, Rescission of Enforcement Guidance on Remedies Available to Undocumented Workers.

Last verified: 2026-09-09.

Recent fee, deadline, and contact context (2025-2026)

Key lines stay here: in Iowa an EEOC charge must be filed within 300 days of the alleged harm; the EEOC is at 1-800-669-4000 and its portal files in English and Spanish. The EEOC’s national charge statistics, the per-state filing deadlines, remedies, and the immigration-status protections are maintained once, on the EEOC workplace rights by state hub.