Chapter 106

106.001(4) (4) “Apprenticeship program” means a program approved by the department providing for the employment and training of apprentices in a trade, craft, or business that includes a plan containing all of the terms and conditions for the qualification, recruitment, selection, employment, and training of apprentices as required under this subchapter, including the apprentice contract requirements under s. 106.01.

106.001(5) (5) “Employer” means any person employing an apprentice, whether or not the person is a party to an apprentice contract with the apprentice.

106.001(6) (6) “Joint apprenticeship committee” means an apprenticeship committee that consists of an equal number of representatives of employers and of representatives of employees who are represented by a collective bargaining agent.

106.001(7) (7) “Nonjoint apprenticeship committee” means an apprenticeship committee that consists of representatives of employers, but not of representatives of employees who are represented by a collective bargaining agent.

106.001(8) (8) “Sponsor” means any employer, organization of employees, association of employers, committee, or other person operating an apprenticeship program and in whose name the apprenticeship program is approved by the department.

106.001 History History: 1999 a. 83; 2009 a. 291.

106.01 106.01 Apprentice contracts.

106.01(1) (1) Formation of apprentice contract. Any person 16 years of age or over may enter into an apprentice contract binding himself or herself to serve as an apprentice as provided in this section. The term of service of an apprenticeship shall be for not less than one year. Every apprentice contract shall be in writing and shall be signed by the apprentice, the department, and the sponsor or an apprenticeship committee acting as the agent of the sponsor. If the apprentice has not reached 18 years of age, the apprentice contract shall also be signed by one of the apprentice’s parents or, if both parents are deceased or legally incapable of giving consent, by the guardian of the apprentice or, if there is no guardian, by a deputy of the department. The department shall specify the provisions that are required to be included in an apprentice contract by rule promulgated under sub. (11).

106.01(5m) (5m) Assignment of apprentice contract.

106.01(5m)(a) (a) Upon entering into an apprentice contract, a sponsor that is not the proposed employer of the apprentice, or an apprenticeship committee that is acting as the agent of a sponsor, shall, with the acceptance of the apprentice contract by the proposed employer, assign the apprentice contract to the proposed employer, and the proposed employer and the apprentice named in the assignment shall be bound by the terms of the apprentice contract.

106.01(5m)(b) (b) The department shall furnish a copy of an acceptance described in par. (a) to each party that has signed the apprentice contract. A sponsor or apprenticeship committee that enters into an apprentice contract shall have the exclusive right to assign or reassign the apprentice contract to another sponsor, and the apprentice shall not be permitted to enter into any other apprentice contract. The period transpiring before assignment to an employer or reassignment to another employer shall not be credited toward the term of apprenticeship. The approval of the department is required in each transaction.

106.01(5m)(c) (c) A sponsor or apprenticeship committee that enters into an apprentice contract may reassign the apprentice contract to a different employer, but the apprentice shall not be bound by a reassignment unless that employer accepts the terms of the apprentice contract and agrees to perform the unperformed obligations of the apprentice contract. After a reassignment, the new employer shall perform the unperformed obligations of the apprentice contract. The department shall continue to have jurisdiction over an apprentice contract reassigned under this paragraph and the parties bound after the reassignment.

106.01(5p) (5p) Termination of apprentice contract. The department, on its own motion or on the complaint of any person, and after due notice, investigation, and, if requested by the apprentice, employer, or sponsor, a hearing under sub. (9), may make findings and issue an order terminating an apprentice contract if it is proved that any apprentice, employer, or sponsor that is a party to the apprentice contract is unable to continue with the obligations under the apprentice contract or has breached the apprentice contract. Upon termination of the apprentice contract, the released apprentice may enter into a new apprentice contract under any terms and conditions approved by the department that are consistent with this section.

106.01(6) (6) Related instruction.

106.01(6)(a) (a) An employer shall pay an apprentice for the time that the apprentice is receiving related instruction as provided in this paragraph. An employer shall pay an apprentice for not less than the number of hours of related instruction specified in par. (b) or the number of hours of related instruction specified in the apprentice contract, whichever is greater, at the same rate per hour as the employer pays the apprentice for services performed.

106.01(6)(b) (b) During the first 2 years of an apprenticeship, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than 144 hours per year of related instruction. If the apprenticeship is for longer than 2 years, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than a total of 400 hours of related instruction over the term of the apprenticeship. If the apprentice is receiving classroom instruction, the sponsor shall provide for the apprentice not less than 4 hours of related instruction or the equivalent during each week that the school providing the classroom instruction is in session. The total number of hours of related instruction and work that a sponsor may assign to an apprentice may not exceed 55 per week, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to forbid overtime work as provided in sub. (7).

106.01(6)(c) (c) This subsection does not prohibit an agreement between the parties requiring the apprentice to take additional instruction on the apprentice’s own time in excess of the number of hours required under par. (b) or the apprentice contract, whichever is greater.

106.01(6)(d) (d) The provider of related instruction to an apprentice shall submit reports on the grades and attendance of the apprentice to the department and the sponsor in accordance with standards set by the department.

106.01(6)(e) (e) All school officers and public school teachers shall cooperate with the department and employers and sponsors of apprentices to furnish, in a public school or any school supported in whole or in part by public moneys, any related instruction that may be required to be given apprentices.

106.01(7) (7) Overtime. An apprentice may be allowed to work overtime. All time in excess of the hours of labor that are paid at an employee’s regular rate of pay in the particular craft, industry, or business and by the particular employer shall be considered overtime. An apprentice’s rate of pay for overtime shall be increased by the same percentage as the journey worker’s rate of pay for overtime is increased in the same industry or establishment.

106.01(8) (8) Nonperformance of apprentice contract. If the apprentice or sponsor that is a party to an apprentice contract or an assignee employer fails to perform any of the stipulations of the apprentice contract, the apprentice, sponsor, or assignee employer may be required to forfeit not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, which is to be collected on complaint of the department and paid into the state treasury. In addition, the department may terminate an apprentice contract under sub. (5p) upon application of any party and for good cause shown.

106.01(9) (9) Authority of department. The department, subject to s. 106.015, may investigate, fix reasonable classifications, issue rules and general or special orders, and hold hearings, make findings, and render orders upon its findings as necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this section. The investigations, classifications, hearings, findings, and orders shall be made as provided in s. 103.005. Except as provided in sub. (8), the penalties specified in s. 103.005 (12) apply to violations of this section. Orders issued under this subsection are subject to review under ch. 227.

106.01(11) (11) Rules. The department, subject to s. 106.015, shall promulgate rules to implement this section, including rules providing for all of the following:

106.01(11)(a) (a) The provisions that are required to be included in an apprentice contract.

106.01(11)(b) (b) Procedures for approving and for rescinding approval of apprenticeship programs.

106.01 History History: 1971 c. 228 s. 43; 1977 c. 29 s. 1651; 1977 c. 273; 1993 a. 492; 1995 a. 27; 1999 a. 83; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 33; 2009 a. 291; 2015 a. 258; 2017 a. 148; 2017 a. 365 s. 111.

106.01 Annotation The department was a necessary party to an action by a city employee for an allegedly discriminatory annulment of his apprentice indenture. Tillman v. City of Milwaukee, 715 F.2d 354 (1983).

106.015 106.015 Apprentice–to–journeyworker ratios.

106.015(1) (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), the department may not prescribe, enforce, or authorize, whether through the promulgation of a rule, the issuance of a general or special order, the approval of an apprenticeship program or apprentice contract, or otherwise, a ratio of apprentices to journeyworkers for apprenticeship programs or apprentice contracts that requires more than one journeyworker for each apprentice.

106.015(2) (2) The prohibition under sub. (1) does not apply with respect to apprentices whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement.

106.015 History History: 2017 a. 148.

106.025 106.025 Plumber apprenticeships.

106.025(1) (1) The department may prescribe the conditions under which a person may serve a plumbing apprenticeship, as to preliminary and technical college attendance requirements, level of supervision of an apprentice, the character of plumbing work in accordance with ch. 145, and the credit for school attendance in serving the apprenticeship.

106.025(2) (2) Every person commencing a plumbing apprenticeship shall enter into an apprentice contract under s. 106.01.

106.025(3) (3) After the expiration of an apprenticeship term, no apprentice may engage in the business of plumbing either as an apprentice or as a journeyman plumber unless the apprentice secures a journeyman plumber’s license. In case of failure to pass the examination for the license, he or she may continue to serve as an apprentice but not beyond the time for reexamination for a journeyman plumber’s license, as prescribed by the rules of the department.

106.025 History History: 1971 c. 40; 1971 c. 154 s. 79 (2); 1979 c. 221; 1981 c. 60; 1993 a. 399; 1995 a. 286 ss. 1, 2; Stats. 1995 s. 106.025; 1999 a. 83; 2009 a. 291; 2017 a. 148.

106.05 106.05 Apprenticeship completion award program.

106.05(1) (1) Definitions. In this section:

106.05(1)(a) (a) “Sponsor” does not include a state agency or local governmental unit.

106.05(1)(b) (b) “Tuition costs” means any fee that is charged for an apprentice to participate in related instruction under s. 106.01 (6).

106.05(2) (2) Apprenticeship completion awards.

106.05(2)(a) (a) The department shall administer an apprenticeship completion award program as provided in this section to partially reimburse tuition costs incurred by any of the following:

106.05(2)(a)1. 1. An apprentice who has successfully completed part or all of the requirements of his or her apprenticeship program as provided in par. (b) 1. and 2. and who is employed in the trade, occupation, or business in which he or she is being trained under the apprenticeship program.

106.05(2)(a)2. 2. The sponsor of an apprentice described in subd. 1.

106.05(2)(b) (b) Subject to par. (c) and sub. (3), from the appropriation under s. 20.445 (1) (dr), the department may provide to an apprentice described in par. (a) 1. or the apprentice’s sponsor a completion award equal to 25 percent of the cost of tuition incurred by the apprentice or sponsor or $1,000, whichever is less. If the department provides a completion award under this subsection, the department shall pay the award as follows:

106.05(2)(b)1. 1. The department shall make the first payment of a completion award upon the successful completion of the first year of the apprentice’s apprenticeship contract. The amount of the first payment may not exceed $250.

106.05(2)(b)2. 2. The department shall pay the remainder of a completion award upon the successful completion of all requirements of the apprentice’s apprenticeship program.

106.05(2)(c) (c) The total amount of a completion award that the department may pay to an apprentice and his or her sponsor may not exceed 25 percent of the cost of tuition incurred by the apprentice and sponsor or $1,000, whichever is less.

106.05(3) (3) Limitations on awards.

106.05(3)(a) (a) If the amount of funds to be distributed under sub. (2) exceeds the amount available in the appropriation under s. 20.445 (1) (dr) for completion awards under sub. (2), the department may reduce the reimbursement percentage or deny applications for completion awards that would otherwise qualify under sub. (2). In that case, the department shall determine the reimbursement percentage and eligibility on the basis of the dates on which apprentices and sponsors become eligible for completion awards.

106.05(3)(b) (b) The department may provide a completion award under sub. (2) to a person who is delinquent in child support or maintenance payments or who owes past support, medical expenses, or birth expenses, as established by appearance of the person’s name on the statewide support lien docket under s. 49.854 (2) (b), only if the person provides the department with one of the following:

106.05(3)(b)1. 1. A repayment agreement that the person has entered into, that has been accepted by the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5), and that has been kept current for the 6-month period immediately preceding the date of the application for a completion award.

106.05(3)(b)2. 2. A statement that the person is not delinquent in child support or maintenance payments and does not owe past support, medical expenses, or birth expenses, signed by a representative or designee of the department of children and families within 7 working days before the date of the application for a completion award.

106.05(4) (4) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this section.

106.05 History History: 2013 a. 57; 2015 a. 348; 2017 a. 370.

106.05 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also s. DWD 295.25, Wis. adm. code.

106.07 106.07 Participation by high school seniors in apprenticeship programs.

106.07(1) (1) Definition. In this section, “high school senior” means an individual who is 16 years of age or over and who is enrolled in grade 12 in public school.

106.07(2) (2) Eligibility. A high school senior may enter into an apprentice contract under s. 106.01 that provides for the high school senior to participate in an apprenticeship program if the school district in which the high school senior is enrolled does all of the following:

106.07(2)(a) (a) Certifies that the high school senior is expected to graduate high school no later than the end of the current school year.

106.07(2)(b) (b) Certifies that the high school senior’s proposed on-the-job training schedule allows adequate time for the high school senior to complete any high school graduation requirements no later than the end of the current school year.

106.07(2)(c) (c) Agrees to award high school credit to the high school senior for the hours of related instruction provided by a sponsor under s. 106.01 (6) (b) that the high school senior completes during the first year of the apprentice contract.

106.07(2)(d) (d) Agrees to award high school credit to the high school senior for the hours of on-the-job training the high school senior completes during the first year of the apprentice contract.

106.07(3) (3) On-the-job training during first year of apprentice contract. In addition to any other provisions that are required to be included in an apprentice contract under rules promulgated by the department under s. 106.01 (11) (a), the apprentice contract described in sub. (2) shall provide all of the following:

106.07(3)(a) (a) That, during the first year of the apprentice contract, the employer will employ the high school senior on a part-time basis during any periods of time when the school district in which the high school senior is enrolled is in session.

106.07(3)(b) (b) That the high school senior must complete a minimum of 450 hours of on-the-job training during the first year of the apprentice contract.

106.07(4) (4) High school graduation requirement. No later than one year after the date on which the apprentice contract described in sub. (2) is executed, the high school senior shall provide all parties to the apprentice contract evidence that the high school senior earned his or her high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma. If the high school senior fails to timely provide that evidence, the department may terminate the apprentice contract under s. 106.01 (5p).

106.07(5) (5) Coordination among state agencies. The state workforce development board established under 29 USC 3111, the technical college system board, and the department of public instruction shall assist the department of workforce development in implementing this section and in coordinating participation by high school seniors in apprenticeship programs under this section.

106.07(6) (6) Rules. The department may promulgate rules to implement this section.

106.07 History History: 2017 a. 273.

subch. II of ch. 106 SUBCHAPTER II

EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS

106.09 106.09 Public employment offices.

106.09(1) (1) The department shall establish and conduct free employment agencies, license and supervise the work of private employment offices, do all in its power to bring together employers seeking employees and working people seeking employment, make known the opportunities for self-employment in this state, aid in procuring employment for the blind adults of the state, aid in inducing minors to undertake promising skilled employments, provide industrial or agricultural training for vagrants and other persons unsuited for ordinary employments, and encourage wage earners to insure themselves against distress from unemployment. It shall investigate the extent and causes of unemployment in this state and the remedies therefor in this and other countries, and it shall devise and adopt the most efficient means within its power to avoid unemployment, to provide employment, and to prevent distress from involuntary idleness.

106.09(2) (2) Any county, city, town or village may enter into an agreement with the department for such period of time as may be deemed desirable for the purpose of establishing and maintaining local free employment offices, and it shall be lawful for any county, city, town or village to appropriate and expend the necessary money and to permit the use of public property for the joint establishment and maintenance of such offices as may be agreed upon, or in counties containing 250,000 inhabitants or more in any city, town or village therein to purchase a site and construct necessary buildings. Provided, that in any county, city, village or town therein, wherein there is a citizens’ committee on unemployment, such committee may rent, lease, purchase or construct necessary buildings for the joint establishment and maintenance of such free employment office, subject to the approval of such plans by the department. The department may establish such free employment offices as it deems necessary to carry out the purposes of ch. 108. All expenses of such offices, or all expenses not defrayed by the county, city, town or village in which an office is located, shall be paid from the appropriations to the department provided in s. 20.445 (1) (ga) and (n).

106.09(3) (3) The department may rent, furnish and equip, except as provided in sub. (2), such offices as may be needed in cities for the conduct of its affairs. All payments arising under this section shall be charged against the proper appropriation for the department.

106.09(5) (5) The department is authorized and directed to cooperate with the U.S. employment service in the administration of its functions.

106.09(7) (7) The department may, by rule, fix and collect fees for provision of employment services authorized but not funded by the U.S. employment service.

106.09 History History: 1971 c. 185 ss. 1, 7; 1971 c. 228 ss. 25, 42; Stats. 1971 s. 101.23; 1973 c. 90 s. 559; 1979 c. 34 s. 2102 (25) (a); 1981 c. 36 s. 45; 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 29 ss. 1650, 3202 (29); 1995 a. 27 s. 3692; Stats. 1995 s. 106.09; 2003 a. 33.

106.09 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. DWD 310, Wis. adm. code.

106.10 106.10 Veterans job training. The department shall cooperate with the U.S. department of veterans affairs in the performance of functions prescribed in P.L. 79-679, 60 Stat. 934 and any acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto. The secretary may with the approval of the governor take all necessary steps in the making of leases or other contracts with the federal government in the adoption and execution of plans, methods and agreements to effectuate P.L. 79-679.

106.10 History History: 1971 c. 185 s. 1; 1971 c. 228; Stats. 1971 s. 101.25; 1977 c. 29, 272; 1989 a. 56; 1995 a. 27 s. 3693; Stats. 1995 s. 106.10.

106.11 106.11 Workforce investment programs. The department shall cooperate with the federal government in carrying out the purposes of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 29 USC 2801 to 2945. In administering the programs authorized by that act the department shall, in cooperation with other state agencies and with local workforce development boards established under 29 USC 2832, establish a statewide workforce investment system to meet the employment, training, and educational needs of persons in this state. If a local workforce development board anticipates that there may be a business closing or mass layoff under s. 109.07 in the area served by that board, the board may prepare a list of resources available in that area that provide career planning, job search, job skills training, and other support services for affected employees, as defined in s. 109.07 (1) (a), including contact information for those resources, for distribution to those employees under s. 109.07 (1m) (a).

106.11 History History: 1985 a. 29 ss. 43, 45 to 48, 50, 51, 1651 to 1653, 3202 (22); 1993 a. 399, 446; 1995 a. 27 ss. 3694 to 3697, 9145 (1); Stats. 1995 s. 106.11; 1997 a. 27, 39, 112; 1999 a. 9; 2009 a. 87.

106.12 106.12 Employment and education program administration. The department shall plan, coordinate, administer, and implement the youth apprenticeship program under s. 106.13 (1) and such other employment and education programs as the governor may by executive order assign to the department. Notwithstanding any limitations placed on the use of state employment and education funds under this section or s. 106.13 or under an executive order assigning an employment and education program to the department, the department may issue a general or special order waiving any of those limitations on finding that the waiver will promote the coordination of employment and education services.

106.12 History History: 1993 a. 16; 1995 a. 27 s. 3701; 1995 Stats. s. 106.12; 1997 a. 27; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 33; 2005 a. 25.

106.125 106.125 Early college credit program. On behalf of the school board of a school district, on behalf of a governing board of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), and on behalf of the governing body of a participating private school, as defined in s. 118.55 (1) (c), the department of workforce development shall pay to the department of public instruction the costs of tuition for a pupil who attends an institution of higher education under the program under s. 118.55 as provided under s. 118.55 (5) (e) 2. and 3.

106.125 History History: 2017 a. 59; 2021 a. 217.

106.13 106.13 Youth apprenticeship program.