AB720: Bill Text

LRB-3831/1

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2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE

2013 Assembly BILL 720

February 3, 2014 - Introduced by Representative Sinicki. Referred to Committee on Labor.

AB720,1,9 An Act to renumber 104.01 (1); to renumber and amend 104.045; to amend 49.141 (1) (g), 103.67 (2) (fm) 3., 103.70 (2) (b) 3., 104.01 (intro.), 104.01 (8), 104.04, 104.05, 104.07 (1), 104.07 (2), 104.10, 104.11, 234.94 (5), 234.94 (8), 800.09 (1j), 800.095 (1) (d) and 895.035 (2m) (c); to repeal and recreate 104.06; and to create 15.227 (1), 19.85 (1) (ej), 104.01 (1d), 104.01 (1g), 104.01 (5m), 104.01 (7m), 104.035 and 104.045 (2) and (3) of the statutes; relating to: creation of a wage council to study and make recommendations concerning increases in the living wage, increasing the state minimum wage, and granting rule-making authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under the current state minimum wage law, employers are required to pay to their employees a living wage, which is defined as compensation that is sufficient to enable an employee to maintain himself or herself under conditions consistent with his or her welfare. Under that law, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is required to investigate and determine the living wage. If, upon investigation, DWD finds that there is reasonable cause to believe that the wages paid to any employee are not a living wage, DWD must appoint a wage council, selected so as fairly to represent employers, employees, and the public, to assist DWD in its investigations and determinations. In determining the living wage, DWD may consider the effect that an increase in the living wage might have on the economy of the state, including the effect of a living wage increase on job creation, retention, and expansion; on the availability of entry-level jobs; and on regional economic conditions within the state.

This bill creates a permanent wage council in DWD and requires the wage council, early in each regular session of the legislature, to convene for the purpose of studying the need for an increase in the living wage and making recommendations to DWD for any changes in the living wage that may be necessary to ensure that the wages paid to any employee are a living wage. The wage council, in conducting that study and making those recommendations, and DWD, in revising the living wage, must consider: 1) any changes in the consumer price index; 2) the effect of those changes on the real income of employees in this state; and 3) the effect that an increase in the living wage might have on the economy of the state, including the effect of a living wage increase on job creation, retention, and expansion; on the availability of entry-level jobs; and on regional economic conditions within the state. If DWD approves the findings and recommendations of the wage council, DWD may promulgate rules to revise the living wage.

In addition, the bill specifies that the biennial living wage revision procedure created under the bill does not preclude DWD from convening the wage council at other times during the regular session of the legislature if, upon investigation, DWD finds that there is reasonable cause to believe that the wages paid to any employee are not a living wage. If DWD so convenes the wage council, the wage council so convened must study the need for an increase in the living wage and report its recommendations as provided in the bill.

Finally, the bill increases the minimum wage for employees generally, beginning on January 1, 2015, from $7.25 per hour to $8 per hour or an amount determined by DWD by rule, whichever is greater.

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:

AB720,1 Section 1. 15.227 (1) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,2,3 15.227 (1) Wage council. There is created in the department of workforce development a wage council consisting of all of the following members:

AB720,3,3 (a) Five representatives of employers, including a representative of an association that is primarily composed of small businesses, appointed by the secretary of workforce development for 3-year terms.

AB720,3,5 (b) Five representatives of employees appointed by the secretary of workforce development for 3-year terms.

AB720,3,9 (c) The chairpersons and ranking minority party members of one senate standing committee and one assembly standing committee concerned with labor issues, appointed as are the members of standing committees in their respective houses.

AB720,3,12 (d) Five representatives of the public interest who do not have the qualifications of the members described in pars. (a) to (c) appointed by the secretary of workforce development for 3-year terms.

AB720,2 Section 2. 19.85 (1) (ej) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,3,16 19.85 (1) (ej) Deliberating by the wage council in a meeting at which all employer members of the council or all employee members of the council are excluded.

AB720,3 Section 3. 49.141 (1) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,3,20 49.141 (1) (g) "Minimum wage" means the state minimum hourly wage under ch. 104 s. 104.035 (1) or the federal minimum hourly wage under 29 USC 206 (a) (1), whichever is applicable.

AB720,4 Section 4. 103.67 (2) (fm) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,3,23 103.67 (2) (fm) 3. The minor is paid the applicable minimum wage under ch. 104 s. 104.035 or under federal law, whichever is greater, for the work.

AB720,5 Section 5. 103.70 (2) (b) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,4,2 103.70 (2) (b) 3. The minor is paid the applicable minimum wage under ch. 104 s. 104.035 or under federal law, whichever is greater, for the work.

AB720,6 Section 6. 104.01 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,4,5 104.01 Definitions. (intro.) The following terms as used in In this chapter shall be construed as follows:

AB720,7 Section 7. 104.01 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 104.01 (1m).

AB720,8 Section 8. 104.01 (1d) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,4,9 104.01 (1d) "Agricultural employee" means an employee who is employed in the operation of farm premises, as described in s. 102.04 (3).

AB720,9 Section 9. 104.01 (1g) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,4,14 104.01 (1g) "Consumer price index" means the average of the consumer price index over each 12-month period for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted, as determined by the bureau of labor statistics of the federal department of labor.

AB720,10 Section 10. 104.01 (5m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,4,17 104.01 (5m) "Opportunity employee" means a person under 20 years of age who is in the first 90 consecutive days of employment with his or her employer.

AB720,11 Section 11. 104.01 (7m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,4,21 104.01 (7m) "Tipped employee" means an employee who in the course of employment customarily and regularly receives money or other gratuities from persons other than the employee's employer.

AB720,12 Section 12. 104.01 (8) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,4,24 104.01 (8) The term "wage" and the term "wages" shall each mean "Wage" means any compensation for labor measured by time, piece, or otherwise.

AB720,13 Section 13. 104.035 of the statutes is created to read:

AB720,5,4 104.035 Minimum wage. (1) Employees generally. Except as provided in subs. (2) and (3), the minimum wage for wages earned beginning on January 1, 2015, is $8 per hour or the amount determined by the department by rule promulgated under s. 106.04, whichever is greater.

AB720,5,6 (2) Minimum wage established by department. The department shall promulgate rules providing the minimum wage for all of the following:

AB720,5,7 (a) Tipped employees.

AB720,5,8 (b) Opportunity employees.

AB720,5,9 (c) Agricultural employees.

AB720,5,10 (d) Camp counselors.

AB720,5,11 (e) Golf caddies.

AB720,5,13 (f) An employee or worker with a disability covered under a license under s. 104.07.

AB720,5,14 (g) A student learner.

AB720,5,16 (h) A student employed by an independent college or university for less than 20 hours per week.

AB720,5,19 (3) Employment exempted by department. The department shall promulgate rules exempting from the minimum wage requirements under subs. (1) to (3) all of the following:

AB720,5,21 (a) A person engaged in casual employment in and around an employer's home on an irregular or intermittent basis for not more than 15 hours per week.

AB720,5,25 (b) A person who resides in the home of an employer who, due to advanced age or physical or mental disability, cannot care for his or her own needs, for the purpose of companionship and who spends not more than 15 hours per week on general household work for the employer.

AB720,6,2 (c) An elementary or secondary school student performing student work-like activities in the student's school.

AB720,14 Section 14. 104.04 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,6,19 104.04 Classifications; department's authority. The department, with the assistance of the wage council as provided in s. 104.06, shall investigate, ascertain, determine, and fix such reasonable classifications, and shall impose general or special orders, determining the living wage, and shall carry out the purposes of this chapter. Such investigations, classifications, and orders shall be made as provided under s. 103.005, and the penalties specified in s. 103.005 (12) shall apply to and be imposed for any violation of this chapter. In determining the living wage, the department may consider the effect that an increase in the living wage might have on the economy of the state, including the effect of a living wage increase on job creation, retention, and expansion, on the availability of entry-level jobs, and on regional economic conditions within the state and the wage council shall use the procedures specified in s. 104.06. A living wage determined under this section shall be the living wage for all employees within the same class as established by the classification of the department. The department may not establish a different minimum wage for men and women. Said orders shall be subject to review in the manner provided in ch. 227.

AB720,15 Section 15. 104.045 of the statutes is renumbered 104.045 (intro.) and amended to read:

AB720,6,24 104.045 Tipped employees Tips, meals, lodging, and hours worked. (intro.) The department shall by rule determine what amount of promulgate rules governing all of the following:

AB720,7,2 (1) The counting of tips or similar gratuities may be counted toward fulfillment of the employer's obligation under this chapter.

AB720,16 Section 16. 104.045 (2) and (3) of the statutes are created to read:

AB720,7,5 104.045 (2) The deduction of meals or lodging provided by an employer to an employee from the employer's obligation under this chapter.

AB720,7,7 (3) The determination of hours worked by an employee during which the employee is entitled to a living wage under this chapter.

AB720,17 Section 17. 104.05 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB720,7,14 104.05 Complaints; investigation. The department shall, within Within 20 days after the filing of a verified complaint of any person setting forth alleging that the wages paid to any employee in any occupation are not sufficient to enable the employee to maintain himself or herself under conditions consistent with his or her welfare, the department shall investigate and determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the wage paid to any employee is not a living wage.

AB720,18 Section 18. 104.06 of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

AB720,7,21 104.06 Wage council; determination of living wage. (1) Living wage study and recommendations. (a) Early in each regular session of the legislature, the wage council shall convene for the purpose of studying the need for an increase in the living wage and making recommendations to the department for any changes in the living wage that may be necessary to ensure that the wages paid to any employee are a living wage.

AB720,7,24 (b) The wage council, in conducting the study and making the recommendations under par. (a), and the department, in revising the living wage under sub. (3), shall consider all of the following:

AB720,8,8 1. The percentage difference between the consumer price index, as defined in s. 49.455 (1) (b), for the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the preceding year and the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the most recent even-numbered year before the preceding year, except that the wage council may not consider that percentage difference if the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the preceding year did not increase over the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the most recent even-numbered year before the preceding year.

AB720,8,11 2. The effect that any change in the consumer price index might have on the real incomes of employees in this state, unless the department is precluded from considering such a change under subd. 1.

AB720,8,15 3. The effect that an increase in the living wage might have on the economy of the state, including the effect of a living wage increase on job creation, retention, and expansion; on the availability of entry-level jobs; and on regional economic conditions within the state.

AB720,8,19 (c) If the wage council recommends an increase in the living wage for a class of employees for whom the living wage is determined on an hourly basis, the wage council shall recommend the same increase for all classes of employees for whom the living wage is determined on an hourly basis.

AB720,8,25 (2) Report of findings and recommendations. The wage council shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, together with an explanation for those findings and recommendations, to the secretary, the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the senate majority leader, and the minority leaders of each house of the legislature and to the standing committee of each house of the legislature that is concerned with labor issues under s. 13.172 (3).

AB720,9,4 (3) Rules revising living wage. The department shall consider the findings and recommendations of the wage council and, if the department approves those findings and recommendations, the department may promulgate rules under s. 104.04 to revise the living wage.

AB720,9,12 (4) Other living wage increases not precluded. The biennial living wage revision procedure specified in subs. (1) to (3) does not preclude the department from convening the wage council at other times during the regular session of the legislature if, upon investigation, the department finds that there is reasonable cause to believe that the wages paid to any employee are not a living wage. If the department so convenes the wage council, the wage council so convened shall study the need for an increase in the living wage as provided in sub. (1) and report its findings and recommendations as provided in sub. (2).

AB720,19 Section 19. 104.07 (1) of the statutes, as affected by 2013 Wisconsin Act 36, is amended to read:

AB720,9,20 104.07 (1) The department shall make promulgate rules, and, except as provided under subs. (5), (6), and (7), grant licenses a license to any employer who employs any employee who is unable to earn the living wage determined by the department, permitting the employee to work for a wage that is commensurate with the employee's ability. Each license so granted shall establish a wage for the licensee employees of the licensee who are unable to earn a living wage.

AB720,20 Section 20. 104.07 (2) of the statutes, as affected by 2013 Wisconsin Act 36, is amended to read: