Chapter 106

106.26   Employment transit assistance program.

106.27   Workforce training program.

106.271   Worker training and employment program.

106.272   Teacher development program grants.

106.273   Career and technical education incentive grants and completion awards.

106.275   Technical education equipment grants.

106.276   Commercial driver training grant program.

106.277   Grants for teacher training and recruitment.

106.30   Nursing workforce survey and grant.

106.36   Offender reentry initiative.

106.361   Hotline for employers.

106.38   Hire Heroes program.

106.40   Agricultural education and workforce development council.

SUBCHAPTER III

EQUAL RIGHTS PROGRAMS

106.50   Open housing.

106.52   Public places of accommodation or amusement.

106.54   Division of equal rights.

106.56   Postsecondary education: prohibition against discrimination on basis of physical condition or developmental disability.

106.57   Postsecondary education; accessible instructional material for students with disabilities.

106.58   Discrimination in education prohibited.

Ch. 106 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See the definitions in s. 103.001.

subch. I of ch. 106 SUBCHAPTER I

APPRENTICE PROGRAMS

Subch. I of ch. 106 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also chs. DWD 295 and 296, Wis. adm. code.

106.001 106.001 Definitions. In this subchapter:

106.001(1) (1) “Apprentice” means any person who enters into an apprentice contract with the department and with a sponsor or an apprenticeship committee acting as the agent of a sponsor.

106.001(2) (2) “Apprentice contract” means any contract or agreement of service, express or implied, between an apprentice, the department, and a sponsor or an apprenticeship committee acting as the agent of a sponsor whereby an apprentice is to receive from or through the apprentice’s employer, in consideration for the apprentice’s services in whole or in part, instruction in any trade, craft, or business.

106.001(2m) (2m) “Apprenticeship committee” means a joint apprenticeship committee or a nonjoint apprenticeship committee designated by a sponsor to administer an apprenticeship program.

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: