Leave - Wisconsin

Jury duty

Wisconsin law doesn’t require employers to pay employees for jury duty.  

Voting

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.

Respond to subpoena

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.

Civil Air Patrol

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:

1. The employee is a member of the Civil Air Patrol.
2. Prior to the emergency service operation, the employee notifies the employer in writing that the employee is a member of the Civil Air Patrol.
3. For an emergency service operation that begins before the employee is required to report for work, the employee provides a written statement from the employee’s commander, or the designated representative of the employee’s commander, certifying that the employee was participating in an emergency service operation at the time of leave (if required by the employer).
4. For an emergency service operation that begins after the employee reports for work, the employee, in addition to providing a written statement as described above (if required by the employer), secures authorization from the employer to leave work before leaving to participate in the emergency service operation.
5. The leave of absence does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.

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.

Emergency responder leave

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:

• No later than 30 days after becoming a member of a volunteer fire department or fire company or becoming affiliated with an ambulance service provider, submit to the employer a written statement signed by the chief of the volunteer fire department, etc., notifying the employer that the employee is such a volunteer. When this changes, the employees are to notify the employer.
• When dispatched to an emergency, make every effort to notify the employer that they may be late or absent due to the emergency. If prior notice cannot be made, submit a written statement from the chief explaining why prior notification could not be made.
• When late or absent from work, upon request from the employer, provide a written statement from the chief that the employees were responding to an emergency at the time of the lateness or absence, and indicating the date and time of the response to the emergency.

Employers may not discharge or discriminate against employees for exercising their rights under this law.