labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws provide as high of a standard for working conditions as possible. Both Wisconsin employers and employees can benefit from this information.

Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws have just determined a minimum wage increase for adult Wisconsin workers to $6.50 per hour. This change has just taken affect in June of 2006. Minors in Wisconsin currently receive a rate of $5.90 per hour.

Some exceptions are written within Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws regarding the required wage above. For example, adult agricultural workers receive a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour and minor agricultural workers receive $4.25 per hour. In addition, caddies receive almost twice the standard minimum wage for an 18-hole golf match.

Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws make sure that workers under 18 receive at least a 30 minute break for every six hour shift. A minor employee must be free from all duties during this break must be free to leave the premises. If not, the employer must pay for this break. Additional short rest breaks are not required.

Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws do not require employers in the state to offer meal breaks or short rest breaks to adult employees. If they are given one by Wisconsin employers, however, that employer must either let that employee be free from duties or pay for a shorter break of approximately 5 to 20 minutes.

Another provision made by Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws is for that of overtime hours. Most Wisconsin workers are entitled to receive time and a half pay for any hours worked over 40 in a week’s time. Certain agricultural, non-profit, domestic, and federal workers are not required to receive this standard overtime pay.

Additional information for both employers and employees is written in Wisconsin (WI) wage and hour laws. This information is usually required to be posted at job sites throughout the state.

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1. Posted by: Chuck Kirsch

   Is there any exemption for overtime for employees who travel a lot. For example, an employee drives to Kentucky and back and spends 19 hours traveling and another 30 hours working for the week. He is normally paid for his travel time. Is the employers liable to pay 9 hours of overtime. Thnak for your help.

2. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi Chuck,
   You raise some very interesting questions. In some cases, an employee who is a passenger in a car, train or plane need not be paid for that time. But an employee who is driving, must be paid. For a more complete answer, please post your questions on our site for HR pros, http://www.humanresourceblog.com.

   Thanks for reading! Amelia

3. Posted by: Trista

   Under Wisconsin wage and hour laws–is the employer required to payout vacation, when an employee was employed less than a month.

4. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi Trista! No. As far as we can determine, Wisconsin does not require that terminated employees be paid for any unused vacation time. Even in states that do require it, the employee is only entitled to payment for vacation time that he or she could have used — under company policy — on the last day of work. We are not aware of any employer so generous that they permit vacation after one month of work. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

5. Posted by: Lisa Barry

   Can my employers change our shift hours back and forth whenever they feel like it and on short notice?

6. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi Lisa! Yes. The employer has the right to schedule employees as the employer desires or as business requires. In some cases, if an employee was hired to work the day shift, worked it for a period of months or years and was suddenly switched (permanently) to the night shift, if the employee quits rather than work nights, he or she can collect unemployment. For example, an employee who quit because he did not have childcare at night, could probably collect unemployment.
   However, in this case it appears that the employees are hired for no specific shift and are routinely scheduled for different hours. There is no law prohibiting that in Wisconsin, or many other states. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

7. Posted by: Sue

   I work for a public school system and am required to do lunch duty. I am required to work 7 hours by contract. My work hours are 7:30 to 3:15 with out a break. Are there any laws or rules governing a lunch break in this situation? Thank
   Sue

8. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi Sue! Unfortunately, no. Wisconsin has no law requiring employers to give meal breaks to workers over the age of 18. Sorry, wish we could help. Thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

9. Posted by: JoAnn Gerloff

   My son-in-law, aged 26, is working at a quick food establishment. He received his check last week. The stub showed he only worked 1 week, and had a misc deduction for $20. When the employer was questioned about the check discrepancies, my son-in-law was told he would be paid the other week’s wages in cash. The $20 was first for the payroll to be done, then changed to “this is for the food you could eate while working”. He has worked at this place for almost 2 months now, and was finally put on the payroll, so this is technically his first check.

   My question is, can they deduct from his check the cost of doing payroll? Each employee had the identical $20 taken out. All the employees are being just paid minimum wage, $7.25.

10. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi JoAnn! Many fast food establishments are very professionally managed. It appears that this one is not.
    No, the employer cannot deduct the cost of processing payroll from the employee’s checks. Nor can he deduct the cost of meals that employees were never offered and don’t eat. Your son and his coworkers should file complaints regarding improper deductions or non-payment of wages with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
    It is also a violation of the employer to pay workers in cash, if no itemized accounting of wages and deductions is presented to the employee. The workers should also file a complaint about this. The WI DWD will investigate and force the owner to pay up.
    Under both federal and state minimum wage laws, employees must be paid on payday for all time worked during the payroll period. The employer must keep accurate records of hours worked and payments for 3 years.
    It is also unlawful for the employer to have an employee work for 2 months before being paid.
    All in all, we hope your son-in-law is still looking for a better job. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

    File a complaint at: http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dwd/forms/erd/ls_119_e.htm

11. Posted by: Beth

    I work as a cashier at a local retail store. I was recently scheduled two back to back days with only 6 hours in between. Considering time of travel and getting ready the next morning, that leaves me with 4 hours of sleep at best. Is there some kind of legal requirement stating the minimum time requirement between shifts?

12. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Beth! Unfortunately, in Wisconsin as in most states, there is no law regarding the minimum time between shifts. We agree that 6 hours between shifts is unreasonable. Many times when a manager writes a schedule like this, it is an error — they don’t notice they have scheduled the employee for such a quick turnaround. For example, the employee might be scheduled 5 pm to midnight on Thursday and 6 am to 2 pm on Friday. You may want to tactfully let the employer know if they schedule you this way again. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia