LRBs0293/1
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2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE
SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO SENATE BILL 456
February 2, 2016 - Offered by Senator Stroebel.
SB456-SSA1,1,3 1An Act to create 102.03 (6), 102.127, 102.44 (4m) and 102.44 (5m) of the statutes;
2relating to: various changes to the worker's compensation law and granting
3rule-making authority.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Introduction
This substitute amendment makes various changes to the worker's
compensation law, as administered by the Department of Workforce Development
and the Division of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Administration.
Employee misrepresentation of physical condition
Under current law, an employee who is injured while performing services
growing out of and incidental to his or her employment may recover worker's
compensation for the injury.
This substitute amendment bars recovery of worker's compensation by an
injured employee if 1) the employee knowingly and willfully made a false
representation as to his or her physical condition in an employment application; 2)
the employer relied on the false representation and that reliance was a substantial
factor in the employer's decision to hire the employee; and 3) there was a causal
connection between the false representation and the injury.

Worker's compensation denied by another state
Under current law, an employee who, while working outside the territorial
limits of this state, suffers an injury on account of which the employee would have
been entitled to worker's compensation under the laws of this state had the injury
occurred in this state is entitled to worker's compensation under the laws of this state
if 1) the employee's employment is principally localized in this state; 2) the employee
is working under a contract of hire made in this state in employment that is not
principally localized in any state; 3) the employee is working under a contract made
in this state in employment principally localized in another state whose worker's
compensation law is not applicable to the employee's employer; 4) the employee is
working under a contract of hire made in this state in employment outside the United
States; or 5) the employee is a Wisconsin law enforcement officer acting under a
mutual aid agreement with a law enforcement agency of an adjacent state.
This substitute amendment provides that if an employee who suffers an injury
outside the territorial limits of this state files a claim for compensation under the
laws of another jurisdiction and that claim is denied on the merits by a final decision
of that jurisdiction, the employee may not make a claim for compensation under the
laws of this state for the same injury.
Worker's compensation payable under laws of other states
The substitute amendment permits an employer or insurer to reduce the
amount of benefits payable to an injured employee under the worker's compensation
law of this state by the amount of benefits paid or payable to the injured employee
under the worker's compensation law of any other state for the same injury. That
reduction is allowed only as to payments made under the worker's compensation law
of another state made after the effective date of the substitute amendment, that
reduction may not take into account payments made under the worker's
compensation law of another state to dependents of the employee, and that reduction
may not be made on temporary disability benefits payable during a period in which
the employee is receiving vocational rehabilitation services.
Minimum permanent partial disability ratings; no actual impairment
Under current law, DWD has promulgated rules establishing minimum
permanent partial disability ratings for certain amputation levels, losses of motion,
sensory losses, or surgical procedures resulting from injuries for which permanent
partial disability is claimed.
This substitute amendment requires those rules to provide that those
minimum ratings for a surgical procedure do not apply if it is shown that after the
procedure the injured employee suffers from no actual impairment as a result of his
or her injury.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB456-SSA1,1 1Section 1. 102.03 (6) of the statutes is created to read:
SB456-SSA1,3,5
1102.03 (6) If an employee who suffers an injury outside the territorial limits
2of this state files a claim for compensation under the laws of another jurisdiction and
3that claim is denied on the merits by a final decision of that jurisdiction, the employee
4may not make a claim for compensation under the laws of this state for the same
5injury.
SB456-SSA1,2 6Section 2. 102.127 of the statutes is created to read:
SB456-SSA1,3,10 7102.127 False representations on employment applications. A false
8representation as to an employee's physical condition made by the employee in an
9employment application bars the recovery of all compensation payable under this
10chapter for an injury to the employee if all of the following apply:
SB456-SSA1,3,11 11(1) The employee knowingly and willfully made the false representation.
SB456-SSA1,3,13 12(2) The employer relied on the false representation and that reliance was a
13substantial factor in the employer's decision to hire the employee.
SB456-SSA1,3,15 14(3) There was a causal connection between the false representation and the
15injury.
SB456-SSA1,3 16Section 3. 102.44 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB456-SSA1,3,2317 102.44 (4m) The department shall promulgate rules establishing minimum
18permanent disability ratings for amputation levels, losses of motion, sensory losses,
19and surgical procedures resulting from injuries for which permanent partial
20disability is claimed under sub. (3) or (4). Those rules shall provide that those
21minimum ratings for a surgical procedure performed on an injured employee do not
22apply if it is shown that after the procedure the injured employee suffers from no
23actual impairment as a result of the employee's injury.
SB456-SSA1,4 24Section 4. 102.44 (5m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB456-SSA1,4,7
1102.44 (5m) (a) Subject to pars. (b) to (f), an employer or insurer may reduce
2the amount of benefits payable under this chapter to an injured employee, including
3benefits paid in a lump sum under a compromise settlement under s. 102.16 (1), by
4the amount of benefits paid or payable to the injured employee under the worker's
5compensation law of any other state for the same injury, including benefits paid in
6a lump sum under a compromise settlement under the worker's compensation law
7of that state.
SB456-SSA1,4,188 (b) Within 30 days after an injured employee to whom benefits have been paid
9or are payable under the worker's compensation law of any other state first files a
10claim for benefits payable under this chapter for the same injury, the injured
11employee shall report to the employer or insurer the benefits paid or payable to the
12injured employee under the worker's compensation law of that state. If for reasons
13other than excusable neglect an employee fails to report under this paragraph within
1430 days after the date of the claim, the employer or insurer may reduce the
15employee's weekly compensation benefits under this chapter by 75 percent until such
16time as the employee reports that information. On receipt of that information, the
17employer or insurer shall reimburse the employee for all compensation benefits
18otherwise payable during the period of the reduction.
SB456-SSA1,4,2219 (c) An employer or insurer that reduces the amount of benefits payable under
20this chapter as permitted under par. (a) shall report that reduction to the department
21and, on request of the department, shall furnish proof of the basis for that reduction
22that is satisfactory to the department.
SB456-SSA1,5,323 (d) An employer or insurer may reduce the amount of benefits payable under
24this chapter as permitted under par. (a) only as to payments under the worker's
25compensation law of another state made or payable on or after the effective date of

1this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], and shall compute that reduction on the basis
2of payments made or payable for temporary total, temporary partial, permanent
3total, and permanent partial disability.
SB456-SSA1,5,74 (e) An employer or insurer may not reduce the amount of benefits payable
5under this chapter as otherwise permitted under par. (a) on account of payments
6made under the worker's compensation law of another state to a dependent of the
7employee.
SB456-SSA1,5,128 (f) An employer or insurer may not reduce the amount of temporary disability
9benefits payable under this chapter by the amount of temporary disability benefits
10payable under the worker's compensation laws of another state during a period in
11which an injured employee is receiving vocational rehabilitation services under s.
12102.61 (1) or (1m).
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