Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, an employer, including the state, employing at least 50
individuals on a permanent basis must permit an employee who has been employed
by the employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and who has worked for the
employer for at least 1,000 hours during the preceding 52-week period (employee)
to take six weeks of family leave in a 12-month period and two weeks of medical leave
in a 12-month period. Family leave may be taken for the birth or adoptive placement
of a new child or to care for a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health
condition. Medical leave may be taken when the employee has a serious health
condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee's employment
duties. An employee is not entitled to receive wages or salary while taking family
or medical leave, but may substitute, for portions of family or medical leave, other
types of paid or unpaid leave provided by the employer.
When an employee returns from family or medical leave, the employer must
immediately place the employee in the employment position that the employee held
before the leave began or, if that position is filled, in an equivalent employment
position. An employee is not entitled to accrue any seniority or employment benefits
while on family or medical leave, but is entitled to have his or her group health
insurance coverage maintained under the conditions that applied before the leave
began.
This bill permits an employee of an employer that employs at least 15
individuals on a permanent basis to take unpaid family military leave during a
period of active service of the employee or of a spouse or child of the employee of 30
days or more in the U.S. armed forces, the national guard of this state or of any other
state, or the state defense force under an order of the president of the United States
or of the governor of this state or of any other state (period of active service).
Specifically, the bill permits an employee of an employer that employs between 15
and 50 individuals on a permanent basis to take no more than 15 working days of
unpaid family military leave during a period of active service and an employee of an
employer that employs more than 50 individuals on a permanent basis to take no
more than 30 working days of unpaid family military leave during a period of active
service.
Under the bill, an employee is not entitled to receive wages or salary while
taking family military leave, but may substitute, for portions of family military
leave, paid or unpaid leave of any other type provided by the employer. When an
employee returns from family military leave, the employer must immediately place
the employee in the employment position that the employee held before the leave
began or, if that position is filled, in an equivalent employment position. An
employee is not entitled to accrue any seniority or employment benefits while on
family military leave, but is entitled to have his or her group health insurance
coverage maintained under the conditions that applied before the leave began.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB173, s. 1
1Section
1. 103.10 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,2,2
2103.10 (title)
Family or, medical, and family military leave.
SB173, s. 2
3Section
2. 103.10 (1) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 103.10 (1) (ag).
SB173, s. 3
4Section
3. 103.10 (1) (ad) of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,3,4
1103.10
(1) (ad) "Active service" means active service for 30 days or more in the
2U.S. armed forces, the national guard of this state or of any other state, or the state
3defense force under an order of the president of the United States or of the governor
4of this state or of any other state.
SB173, s. 4
5Section
4. 103.10 (1) (ag) 3. of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,3,76
103.10
(1) (ag) 3. The individual is 18 years of age or older and is in a period
7of active service.
SB173, s. 5
8Section
5. 103.10 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,3,179
103.10
(1) (c)
Except as provided in sub. (14) (b), "employer" "Employer" means
10a person engaging in any activity, enterprise
, or business in this state employing at
11least 50 individuals on a permanent basis
, except that for purposes of family military
12leave, "employer" means a person engaging in any activity, enterprise, or business
13in this state employing at least 15 individuals on a permanent basis. "Employer"
14includes the state and any office, department, independent agency, authority,
15institution, association, society
, or other body in state government created or
16authorized to be created by the constitution or any law, including the legislature and
17the courts.
SB173, s. 6
18Section
6. 103.10 (1) (fd) of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,3,2219
103.10
(1) (fd) "Period of active service" means the period beginning on the date
20on which an employee or a spouse or child of an employee receives an order to enter
21active service and ending on the date on which the employee, spouse, or child is
22released from active service or dies while in active service.
SB173, s. 7
23Section
7. 103.10 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,4,224
103.10
(2) (a) Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from providing
25employees with rights to family leave
or, medical leave
which, or family military
1leave that are more generous to the employee than the rights provided under this
2section.
SB173, s. 8
3Section
8. 103.10 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,4,74
103.10
(4m) Family military leave. (a) An employee of an employer that
5employs 50 or fewer employees on a permanent basis may take no more than 15
6working days of unpaid family military leave during a period of active service of the
7employee or of a spouse or child of the employee.
SB173,4,118
(b) An employee of an employer that employs more than 50 employees on a
9permanent basis may take no more than 30 working days of unpaid family military
10leave during a period of active service of the employee or of a spouse or child of the
11employee.
SB173, s. 9
12Section
9. 103.10 (5) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,4,1413
103.10
(5) (a) This section does not entitle an employee to receive wages or
14salary while taking family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave.
SB173, s. 10
15Section
10. 103.10 (5) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,4,1816
103.10
(5) (b) An employee may substitute, for portions of family leave
or,
17medical leave
, or family military leave, paid or unpaid leave of any other type
18provided by the employer.
SB173, s. 11
19Section
11. 103.10 (6) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,5,220
103.10
(6) (c) An employee who intends to take family military leave shall make
21a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so that it does not unduly disrupt the
22employer's operations. If an employee intends to take family military leave for 5 or
23more consecutive working days, the employee shall give the employer at least 14
24days' notice of the intended commencement date of the leave. If an employee intends
25to take family military leave for less than 5 consecutive working days, the employee
1shall give the employer advance notice of the intended commencement date of the
2leave in a reasonable and practicable manner.
SB173, s. 12
3Section
12. 103.10 (7) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
SB173,5,74
103.10
(7) (am) If an employee requests family military leave, the employer
5may require the employee to provide certification issued by the proper military
6authority verifying that the employee or the spouse or a child of the employee is in
7a period of active service.
SB173, s. 13
8Section
13. 103.10 (7) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,5,109
103.10
(7) (b) (intro.) No employer may require certification
under par. (a) 10stating more than the following:
SB173, s. 14
11Section
14. 103.10 (8) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,5,1412
103.10
(8) (a) (intro.) Subject to par. (c), when an employee returns from family
13leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave, his or her employer shall
14immediately place the employee in an employment position as follows:
SB173, s. 15
15Section
15. 103.10 (8) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,5,1816
103.10
(8) (a) 1. If the employment position which the employee held
17immediately before the family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave began
18is vacant when the employee returns, in that position.
SB173, s. 16
19Section
16. 103.10 (8) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,5,2420
103.10
(8) (a) 2. If the employment position which the employee held
21immediately before the family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave began
22is not vacant when the employee returns, in an equivalent employment position
23having equivalent compensation, benefits, working shift, hours of employment
, and
24other terms and conditions of employment.
SB173, s. 17
25Section
17. 103.10 (8) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,6,4
1103.10
(8) (b) No employer may, because an employee received family leave
or, 2medical leave
, or family military leave, reduce or deny an employment benefit
which 3that accrued to the employee before his or her leave began or, consistent with sub.
4(9), accrued after his or her leave began.
SB173, s. 18
5Section
18. 103.10 (8) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,6,106
103.10
(8) (c) Notwithstanding par. (a), if an employee on
a family leave, 7medical
or family leave
, or family military leave wishes to return to work before the
8end of the leave as scheduled, the employer shall place the employee in an
9employment position of the type described in par. (a) 1. or 2. within a reasonable time
10not exceeding the duration of the leave as scheduled.
SB173, s. 19
11Section
19. 103.10 (9) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,6,1712
103.10
(9) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), nothing in this section entitles a
13returning employee to a right, employment benefit
, or employment position to which
14the employee would not have been entitled had he or she not taken family leave
or, 15medical leave
, or family military leave or to the accrual of any seniority or
16employment benefit during a period of family leave
or
, medical leave
, or family
17military leave.
SB173, s. 20
18Section
20. 103.10 (9) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,7,219
103.10
(9) (b) Subject to par. (c), during a period an employee takes family leave
20or, medical leave
, or family military leave, his or her employer shall maintain group
21health insurance coverage under the conditions that applied immediately before the
22family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave began. If the employee
23continues making any contribution required for participation in the group health
24insurance plan, the employer shall continue making group health insurance
1premium contributions as if the employee had not taken the family leave
or, medical
2leave
, or family military leave.
SB173, s. 21
3Section
21. 103.10 (9) (c) 4. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,7,94
103.10
(9) (c) 4. If an employee ends his or her employment with an employer
5during or within 30 days after a period of family leave
or
, medical leave
, or family
6military leave, the employer may deduct from the amount returned to the employee
7under subd. 3. any premium or similar expense paid by the employer for the
8employee's group health insurance coverage while the employee was on family leave
9or, medical leave
, or family military leave.
SB173, s. 22
10Section
22. 103.10 (9) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,7,1511
103.10
(9) (d) If an employee ends his or her employment with an employer
12during or at the end of a period of family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military
13leave, the time period for conversion to individual coverage under s. 632.897 (6) shall
14be calculated as beginning on the day
that on which the employee began the period
15of family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave.
SB173, s. 23
16Section
23. 103.10 (10) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,7,2117
103.10
(10) Alternative employment. Nothing in this section prohibits an
18employer and an employee with a serious health condition from mutually agreeing
19to alternative employment for the employee while the serious health condition lasts.
20No period of alternative employment, with the same employer, reduces the
21employee's right to family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave.
SB173, s. 24
22Section
24. 103.10 (12) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,8,423
103.10
(12) (d) The department shall issue its decision and order within 30 days
24after the hearing. If the department finds that an employer violated sub. (11) (a) or
25(b), it may order the employer to take action to remedy the violation, including
1providing
the requested family leave
or, medical leave
, or family military leave,
2reinstating an employee, providing back pay accrued not more than 2 years before
3the complaint was filed
, and paying reasonable actual attorney fees to the
4complainant.
SB173, s. 25
5Section
25. 108.04 (1) (b) 3. (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,8,96
108.04
(1) (b) 3. (intro.) While the employee is on family or medical leave under
7the federal
family and medical leave act Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(P.L.
8103-3), 29 USC 2601 to 2654, or s. 103.10
or family military leave under s. 103.10,
9and except as provided in par. (c), until whichever of the following occurs first:
SB173, s. 26
10Section
26. 108.04 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,8,2411
108.04
(1) (c) If a leave of absence under par. (b) 2. or a family
or, medical
, or
12family military leave under par. (b) 3. is granted to an employee for a portion of a
13week, if an employee is absent for only a portion of the available work in a week due
14to a suspension under par. (b) 1., or if an employee is absent for only a portion of the
15available work in a week in which a termination under par. (b) 1. occurs, the
16employee's eligibility for benefits for that partial week shall be reduced by the
17amount of wages that the employee could have earned in his or her work had the
18leave not been granted or had the suspension or termination not occurred. For
19purposes of this paragraph, the department shall treat the amount the employee
20would have earned as wages in that work for that week as wages earned by the
21employee and shall apply the method specified in s. 108.05 (3) (a) to compute the
22benefits payable to the employee. The department shall estimate the wages that an
23employee would have earned for a partial week if it is not possible to compute the
24exact amount of wages that the employee would have earned for that partial week.
SB173, s. 27
25Section
27. 111.91 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,9,8
1111.91
(2) (f) Family leave and medical leave rights below the minimum
2afforded under
the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 USC 2601 to
32654, and s. 103.10 and family military leave rights below the minimum afforded
4under s. 103.10. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits the employer from bargaining
5on rights to family leave or medical leave
which
that are more generous to the
6employee than the rights provided under
the federal Family and Medical Leave Act
7of 1993, 29 USC 2601 to 2654, and s. 103.10 and on rights to family military leave
8that are more generous to the employee than the rights provided under s. 103.10.
SB173, s. 28
9Section
28. 230.35 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB173,9,1510
230.35
(2m) An employee shall be eligible for medical or family leave under s.
11103.10 upon the expiration, extension
, or renewal of any collective bargaining
12agreement in effect on April 26, 1988,
which that covers the employee.
An employee
13shall be eligible for family military leave under s. 103.10 upon the expiration,
14extension, or renewal of any collective bargaining agreement in effect on the effective
15date of this subsection .... [revisor inserts date], that covers the employee.
SB173, s. 29
16Section
29. 893.96 (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
SB173,9,17
17893.96 (title)
Family, medical, and family military leave; civil remedies.
SB173,9,2219
(1) This act first applies to an employee, as defined in section 103.10 (1) (b) of
20the statutes, who is affected by a collective bargaining agreement that contains
21provisions inconsistent with this act on the day on which the collective bargaining
22agreement expires or is extended, modified, or renewed, whichever occurs first.
SB173,10,2
1(1)
This act takes effect on the first day of the 6th month beginning after
2publication.
