labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Now is the time to replace your old Wisconsin USERRA poster to ensure that you are displaying up to date and correct information to your employees. There have been some changes and clarifications to the USERRA regulations, with the addition of federal government employees to the list of those able to receive assistance with processing their claims.

The organization responsible for providing assistance to those who claim under the USERRA regulation is the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), which is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. The final USERRA regulations have recently been released by the Dept. of Labor and it is recommended that all parties affected by them make themselves aware of any changes.

An area that is covered quite extensively is the regulations that refer to the time away from an employee’s civilian job. The regulations state that under the law, if a person is covered by USERRA, they are entitled to return to their civilian job for up to five years, depending upon length of service.

The regulations cover employment rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. Under the regulations a person who serves in the military is entitled to job protection. Those covered by the regulations are veterans, members of the National Guard and Reserve as well as members of the Navy, Army or Air Force reserves.

After recent test cases, some returning members may be entitled to the same employment benefits relating to their job if they had not been away. This can include cost of living pay rises, annual salary increases and promotions that they person would have gained due to time served in the company.

The five year regulation is cumulative, so an employee can be away for a period of, for example, three years, and then two years, and still be entitled to job protection. Training stints with the National Guard or Reserves are not counted towards the five year period.

The Wisconsin Labor Law Posters have been a frequent topic of debate here on my blog, or at least for a few times here and there. And we’ve had the chance to cover the gist of the reasons for the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters, and the places that employers have to put up the posters in their work sites.

We’ve also covered how different the postings are on the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters, comparing the state postings with the federal postings and going over in a nutshell what the postings are for. But what we haven’t done yet is really get in depth on some of the postings in the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters.

That’s where we start now. The first posting in the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters that we want to consider “up close and personal” is the unemployment benefits notice, whose official title on the posting is the “Notice to Employees About Applying for Wisconsin Unemployment Benefits.”

This posting in the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters covers when employees need unemployment insurance, and those times it lists with bullets as: when an employee is totally unemployed; when an employee is partially employed and has their weekly earnings reduced; when an employee is expected to be laid off within the next 13 weeks and wants to get a head start on their unemployment benefits.

The unemployment posting in the Wisconsin Labor Law Posters also goes into what employees need to get the benefits. They need to have their Social Security number handy, as well as a personal identification number, which they can make up when they apply for the benefits. They also need to have their driver’s license number, if they have a license. And most importantly perhaps, the employees need to have the names of every company they worked for in the last 18 months.

I would like to tell you about the labor law posters for Wisconsin. It’s a good time to discuss the posters because the minimum wage rate recently changed for Wisconsin. This means the labor law posters for Wisconsin that deal with minimum wage must have been updated. Anytime a law changes then the labor law posters for Wisconsin need to be updated.

It’s the employer’s responsibility to update the labor law posters for Wisconsin. The employer needs to know when the law changes and then they must make the appropriate change. Employers also need to display the labor law posters in an appropriate area in the workplace.

The labor law posters for Wisconsin should be displayed where all employees have a very good chance of seeing them. The poster should be in a well-lit area where employees are known to gather. The labor law posters for Wisconsin should also be kept free from obstructions.

The state posting requirements for the labor law posters for Wisconsin are: Minimum Wage (as I already mentioned), Business Closing / Mass Layoff Law, Discrimination Notice, Unemployment Insurance, Child Labor, OSHA – Health and Safety Protection, Right – To – Know, and Honesty Training. Obviously, the federal requirements for the labor law posters for Wisconsin are the same as the requirements for the labor law posters in the other forty-nine states.

Not all the labor law posters for Wisconsin are required to be in every workplace. The exact requirements depend on the size and type of the business where the posters are displayed. It’s up to the employer to know which labor law posters for Wisconsin must be displayed. Sometimes, if the business is large enough, it may be necessary to display the posters in more than one spot in the workplace.

All employers must make sure the display the correct labor law posters for Wisconsin in the appropriate place. Failure to do so is against the law.

I noticed recently that the state of Wisconsin has a new minimum wage rate. Many of the states are changing their rates, if only because they’ve been at the same rate for so long and it hasn’t kept up with the cost of living. The new Wisconsin minimum wage took effect in April of 2006, and the rate will now be $6.50 per hour.

This means that you need to update your Wisconsin (WI) Employment Labor Posters, if you haven’t already, to reflect the change. In fact, any time a change is made to the employment labor posters that you are required to display, you must immediately update the related poster.

By posting the laws on the wall, you are letting your employees know that you are serious about compliance. You’re making your work environment safer for everyone, and you’re letting them know when a violation of the laws may have occurred, and what steps they can take to safeguard against a violation ever occurring again. Displaying the laws serves as a reminder to all employees and helps to educate them in the ways of employment labor laws.

Anyway, I’ll just go over the posting requirements here in my blog today in case there are any questions or discrepancies. Wisconsin (WI) Employment Labor Posters that are required to be posted in a conspicuous location in your place of business are: Business Closing/Mass Layoff Law, Family/Medical Leave Act, Discrimination Notice, OSHA-Health and Safety Protection, Unemployment Insurance, Child Labor law, Right-To-Know, and Honesty Testing.

There are also Federal labor law posters that are required to be placed in view of all employees. They are: Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law, OSHA - Job Safety and Health Protection, Employee Polygraph Protection Act, Federal Minimum Wage Law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and

USERRA - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act.

As the state puts an increased emphasis on training new workers, it’s more important than ever that employers use a Wisconsin service that provides labor law posters. On August 22, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced job training grants for Chippewa Valley Technical College and Western Technical College.

Many employers fail to realize that they may be in violation of the law by not displaying posters such as the ones available from a Wisconsin service that provides labor law posters. As new workers enter the workforce, this becomes even more important. The grant funds will be used to train 1,060 Wisconsin workers.

Governor Doyle announced $173,339 in Wisconsin Technical College System Workforce Advancement Training grant funds that will be used by Chippewa Valley Technical College and Western Technical College to train Wisconsin workers. Secretary of the Department of Workforce Development Roberta Gassman was in Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, and LaCrosse today to make the announcements on the Governor’s behalf.

“In today’s global economy, the competition is across the ocean, not just across the country or state lines,” Governor Doyle said. “These grants enable businesses to take advantage of the world-class training opportunities provided by Wisconsin’s great technical colleges and help ensure that Wisconsin continues to have a highly-trained, highly-skilled workforce that’s producing the best quality products.”

The announcement is part of $2 million in Workforce Advancement Training grants set aside by Governor Doyle in his budget for the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) that will be used to train 1,700 workers throughout Wisconsin. The grants are awarded to technical colleges throughout the state to work in collaboration with local businesses to help Wisconsin employees upgrade their skills and productivity, providing improved job security, increased career opportunities, and support for regional workforce and economic development efforts.

“My Administration has focused on lifting our entire economy up to compete at the high end,” Governor Doyle said. “Moving forward, we’re going to keep capitalizing on our strengths – excellent schools, universities, and technical colleges, a legacy of innovation, a commitment to quality, and a workforce that’s second-to-none.”