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The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked. This type of benefit is generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee’s representative). Employers, however, do need to comply with applicable state laws.
Wisconsin law doesn’t require employers to pay employees for jury duty.
Wisconsin law allows employees three hours off to vote. The employee must give notice of leave the day before the day of election. Deductions from pay are allowed.
Wisconsin law provides that employers are prohibited from discharging employees because they are subpoenaed to testify in an action or proceeding. On or before the first business day after the receipt of a subpoena to testify, employees must give the employer notice if they will have to be absent from employment because they have been subpoenaed to testify in an action or proceeding.
If employees are subpoenaed during the course of their employment, the employer must not decrease or withhold the employee’s pay for any time lost resulting from compliance with the subpoena. The state law says, “If a person is subpoenaed to testify in an action or proceeding as a result of a crime ... against the person’s employer or an incident involving the person during the course of his or her employment, the employer shall not decrease or withhold the employee’s pay for any time lost resulting from compliance with the subpoena.”
For example, if an employee was robbed while on duty and had to testify in court, the employee should be paid for the time spent responding. However, if the employee is attending to a personal legal matter (such as divorce court or theft of private property that is not related to employment) the absence does not have to be paid. Even so, the employee could not be discharged for the absence.
An employer who violates this section may be fined not more than $200 and may be required to make full restitution to the aggrieved employee, including reinstatement and back pay.
Wisconsin requires employers to grant an unpaid leave of absence to allow an employee to participate in an emergency service operation of the Civil Air Patrol. The state also prohibits discrimination based on Civil Air Patrol membership. An “employer” is defined as one employing at least 11 individuals on a permanent basis.
Covered employers must grant unpaid leave if all of the following conditions are met:
No employee may take more than 5 consecutive workdays of leave or more than 15 days of leave in any year. For purposes of determining seniority and pay advancement, and for the receipt of employment benefits that may be affected by a leave of absence, the status of an employee who takes such leave shall be considered to be uninterrupted by the leave of absence.
Employers may not terminate, refuse to hire, or otherwise discriminate against an employee because the individual is or applies to be a member of the Civil Air Patrol or because the individual performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform service in the Civil Air Patrol.
In Wisconsin, employers must allow employees who are emergency responders to be late or absent from work to respond to emergencies. The employee needs to be a volunteer fire fighter, emergency medical technician, first responder, or ambulance driver for a volunteer fire department or fire company, a public agency, or a non-profit corporation. The reason for being late or absent must be because the employee is responding to an emergency that begins before the employee is required to report to work.
The employee need not be paid for time missed.
In order for employees to be late or absent, they must do the following:
Employers may not discharge or discriminate against employees for exercising their rights under this law.
Contacts
Jury duty
Voting
Respond to subpoena
Wisconsin Department of Justice, Attorney General's Office
Civil Air Patrol
Department of military affairs
Emergency responder leave
Department of Workforce Development
Regulations
Jury duty
Voting
Respond to subpoena
Wisconsin Statutes, Regulation of Industry, Chapter 103 Employment Regulations, §103.87 Employee not to be disciplined for testifying
Civil Air Patrol
Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 321 Department of military affairs, §321.66 Leave for Civil Air Patrol service
Emergency responder leave
Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 103 Employment Regulations, §103.88, Absence from work of volunteer fire fighter, emergency medical technician, first responder, or ambulance driver
Contacts
None.
Statutes/Regulations
None.