Chapter DWD 272

DWD 272.12(2)(e) (e) Preparatory and concluding activities.

DWD 272.12(2)(e)1. 1. The term “principal activities”includes all activities which are an integral part of a principal activity. Two examples of what is meant by an integral part of a principal activity are the following:

DWD 272.12(2)(e)1.a. a. In connection with the operation of a lathe, an employee will frequently, at the commencement of their workday, oil, grease, or clean their machine, or install a new cutting tool. Such activities are an integral part of the principal activity, and are included within such term.

DWD 272.12(2)(e)1.b. b. In the case of a garment worker in a textile mill, who is required to report 30 minutes before other employees report to commence their principal activities, and who during such 30 minutes distributes clothing or parts of clothing at the workbenches of other employees and gets machines in readiness for operation by other employees, such activities are among the principal activities of such employee. Such preparatory activities are compensable under this chapter.

DWD 272.12(2)(e)1.c. c. Among the activities included as an integral part of the principal activity are those closely related activities which are indispensable to its performance. If an employee in a chemical plant, for example, cannot perform their principal activities without putting on certain clothes, changing clothes on the employer’s premises at the beginning and end of the workday would be an integral part of the employee’s principal activity. On the other hand, if changing clothes is merely a convenience to the employee and not directly related to their principal activities, it would be considered as a “preliminary” or “postliminary” activity rather than a principal part of the activity. However, activities such as checking in and out and waiting in line to do so would not ordinarily be regarded as integral parts of the principal activity or activities.

DWD 272.12(2)(f) (f) Lectures, meetings and training programs.

DWD 272.12(2)(f)1. 1. General. Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time if the following 4 criteria are met:

DWD 272.12(2)(f)1.a. a. Attendance is outside of the employee’s regular working hours;

DWD 272.12(2)(f)1.b. b. Attendance is in fact voluntary;

DWD 272.12(2)(f)1.c. c. The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the employee’s job; and

DWD 272.12(2)(f)1.d. d. The employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance.

DWD 272.12(2)(f)2. 2. Involuntary attendance. Attendance is not voluntary, of course, if it is required by the employer. It is not voluntary in fact if the employee is given to understand or led to believe that their present working conditions or the continuance of their employment would be adversely affected by nonattendance.

DWD 272.12(2)(f)3. 3. Training directly related to employee’s job. The training is directly related to the employee’s job it if is designed to make the employee handle their job more effectively as distinguished from training them for another job, or to a new or additional skill. For example, stenographers who are given a course in stenography are engaged in an activity to make them a better stenographer. Time spent in such a course given by the employer or under their auspices is hours worked. However, if the stenographers take a course in bookkeeping, it may not be directly related to their job. Thus, the time they spend voluntarily in taking such a bookkeeping course, outside of regular working hours, need not be counted as working time. Where a training course is instituted for the bona fide purpose of preparing for advancement through upgrading the employee to a higher skill, and is not intended to make the employee more efficient in their present job, the training is not considered directly related to the employee’s job even though the course incidentally improves their skill in doing their regular work.

DWD 272.12(2)(f)4. 4. Independent training. Of course, if an employee on their own initiative attends an independent school, college or independent trade school after hours, the time is not hours worked for their employer even if the courses are related to their job.

DWD 272.12(2)(f)5. 5. Apprenticeship training. As an enforcement policy, time spent in an organized program of related, supplemental instruction by employees working under bona fide apprenticeship programs may be excluded from working time if the following criteria are met:

DWD 272.12(2)(f)5.a. a. The apprentice is employed under a written apprenticeship agreement or program which substantially meets the fundamental standards of the bureau of apprenticeship standards of the department of workforce development, and

DWD 272.12(2)(f)5.b. b. Such time does not involve productive work or performance of the apprentice’s regular duties. If the above criteria are met the time spent in such related supplemental training shall not be counted as hours worked unless the written agreement specifically provides that it is hours worked. The mere payment or agreement to pay for time spent in related instruction does not constitute an agreement that such time is hours worked.

DWD 272.12(2)(g) (g) Travel time.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)1. 1. General. The principles which apply in determining whether or not time spent in travel is working time depend upon the kind of travel involved.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)2. 2. Home to work; ordinary situation. An employee who travels from home before their regular workday and returns to their home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel which is a normal incident of employment. This is true whether they work at a fixed location or at different job sites. Normal travel from home to work is not work time.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)3. 3. Home to work in emergency situations. There may be instances when travel from home to work is work time. For example, if an employee who has gone home after completing their day’s work is subsequently called out at night to travel a substantial distance to perform an emergency job for one of their employer’s customers, all time spent on such travel is working time.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)4. 4. Home to work on special one-day assignment in another city. A problem arises when an employee who regularly works at a fixed location in one city is given a special one-day work assignment in another city. Such travel cannot be regarded as ordinary home-to-work travel occasioned merely by the fact of employment if performed for the employer’s benefit and at their special request to meet the needs of the particular and unusual assignment. It would thus qualify as an integral part of the “principal” activity which the employee was hired to perform on the workday in question; it is like travel involved in an emergency call, or like travel that is all in the day’s work. All the time involved, however, need not be counted. Since, except for the special assignment, the employee would have had to report to their regular work site, the travel between their home and the railroad depot may be deducted, it being in the “home-to-work” category. Also, of course, the usual meal time would be deductible.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)5. 5. Travel that is all in the day’s work. Time spent by an employee in travel as part of their principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, must be counted as hours worked. Where an employee is required to report at a meeting place to receive instructions or to perform other work there, or to pick up and to carry tools, the travel from the designated place to the workplace is part of the day’s work, and must be counted as hours worked regardless of contract, custom, or practice. If an employee normally finished their work on the premises at 5 p.m. and is sent to another job which they finish at 8 p.m. and is required to return to their employer’s premises arriving at 9 p.m. all of the time is working time. However, if the employee goes home instead of returning to their employer’s premises, the travel after 8 p.m. is home-to-work travel and is not hours worked.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)6. 6. Travel away from home community. Travel time away from the home community for business purposes that occurs for the benefit of the employer is considered hours worked.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)7. 7. When private automobile is used in travel away from home community. If an employee is offered public transportation but requests permission to drive their car instead, the employer may count as hours worked either the time spent driving the car or the time they would have had to count as hours worked during working hours if the employee had used the public conveyance.

DWD 272.12(2)(g)8. 8. Work performed while traveling. Any work which an employee is required to perform while traveling must of course be counted as hours worked. An employee who drives a truck, bus, automobile, boat or airplane, or an employee who is required to ride therein as an assistant or helper, is working while riding, except during bona fide meal periods or when the employee is permitted to sleep in adequate facilities furnished by the employer.

DWD 272.12(2)(h) (h) Adjusting grievances, medical attention, civic and charitable work, and suggestion systems.

DWD 272.12(2)(h)1. 1. Adjusting grievances. Time spent in adjusting grievances between an employer and employees during the time the employees are required to be on the premises is hours worked, but in the event a bona fide union is involved the counting of such time will, as a matter of enforcement policy, be left to the process of collective bargaining or to the custom or practice under the collective bargaining agreement.

DWD 272.12(2)(h)2. 2. Medical attention. Time spent by an employee in waiting for and receiving medical attention on the premises or at the direction of the employer during the employee’s normal working hours on days when they are working, constitutes hours worked.

DWD 272.12(2)(h)3. 3. Civic and charitable work. Time spent in work for public or charitable purposes at the employer’s request, or under their direction or control, or while the employee is required to be on the premises, is working time. However, time spent voluntarily in such activities outside of the employee’s normal working hours is not hours worked.

DWD 272.12(2)(h)4. 4. Suggestions systems. Generally, time spent by employees outside of their regular working hours in developing suggestions under a general suggestion system is not working time, but if employees are permitted to work on suggestion during regular working hours the time spent must be counted as hours worked. Where an employee is assigned to work on the development of a suggestion, the time is considered hours worked.

DWD 272.12 History History: Cr. Register, July, 1978, No. 271, eff. 8-1-78; corrections in (2) (f) 5. a. made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 6., Stats., Register, August, 1987, No. 380; cr. (2) (d) 1. and 5., am. (2) (d) 3. a. and 4., Register, February, 1996, No. 482, eff. 3-1-96; emerg. r. and recr. (2) (g) 6. eff 6-1-05; CR 05-056: r. and recr. (2) (g) 6. Register August 2005 No. 596, eff. 11-1-05; correction in (2) (f) 5. a. made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., Stats., Register February 2009 No. 638.

DWD 272.13 DWD 272.13 Forms. The following forms are listed in accordance with s. 227.23, Stats. These forms are issued by and may be obtained from the Equal Rights Division, Department of Workforce Development, P. O. Box 8928, Madison, Wisconsin, 53708.

DWD 272.13(1) (1) ERD-9247 Minimum Wage Rates.

DWD 272.13(2) (2) LS-37, Application for Subminimum Wage License. This particular form is used for both workers with disabilities and student learners. WH-226 is the application for a sheltered workshop to employ workers with disabilities at a subminimum wage. WH-227 is a supplement data sheet for sheltered workshop certificate. WH-247 is an application for a certificate for a training or evaluation program in a sheltered workshop. WH-249 is an application for a special individual rate in a sheltered workshop.

DWD 272.13 History History: Cr. Register, July, 1978, No. 271, eff. 8-1-78; corrections in (intro.) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 6., Stats., Register, August, 1987, No. 380; am. (intro.) and (1), Register, May, 1997, No. 497, eff. 6-1-97; CR 20-031: am. (2) Register October 2021 No. 790, eff. 11-1-21.

DWD 272.14 DWD 272.14 Prohibition of displacement. An employer may not displace an employee solely for the purpose of hiring an employee to be paid the opportunity wage.

DWD 272.14 History History: Cr. Register, November, 1997, No. 503, eff. 12-1-97.