Chapter 230

230.046(3)(b) (b) Provide specialized training to qualified persons through educational stipends in lieu of pay, but in no event shall a monthly stipend exceed the minimum pay of the position for which training is undertaken.

230.046(3)(c) (c) Provide specialized training to designated employees through assignment to research projects, prescribed courses of study, institutes and short courses which are related to the performance of official duties and to pay the cost of required tuition and other necessary fees and expense in connection therewith.

230.046(3)(d) (d) Conduct on-the-job courses of instruction deemed necessary for the efficient performance of agency functions and to pay honorariums to qualified experts instructing in such courses.

230.046(3)(e) (e) Conduct other training programs consistent with the standards set by this section.

230.046(4) (4) Records of training program participation. Each agency shall adopt a standardized system for measuring, recording, reporting, accumulating and recognizing employee participation in its training program.

230.046(5) (5) Initiation of programs. Unless otherwise empowered by law, any agency desiring to initiate a training program under sub. (3) shall ensure that:

230.046(5)(a) (a) Unencumbered appropriated funds are available or funds have been so provided by the joint committee on finance;

230.046(5)(b) (b) Training costs estimated to exceed $500, excluding the compensation of participants, have been included in the budget and approved by the legislature or the joint committee on finance, and such costs will be encumbered for training purposes on the records of the agency;

230.046(5)(c) (c) An agreement has been entered into by the trainee and the appointing authority relative to employment with the state, together with such other terms and conditions as may be necessary under the rules of the administrator whenever on-the-job trainees are employed; and

230.046(5)(d) (d) The immediate and necessary work requirements of the agency will not be seriously handicapped because of such training program.

230.046(6) (6) Gifts and grants. Nothing in this section shall nullify the acceptance or the special conditions of training programs financed by gifts, grants, bequests and devises from individuals, partnerships, associations, limited liability companies or corporations and all subventions from the United States, unless such financing has been refused by the state under s. 16.54 or 20.907.

230.046(7) (7) Establish internships. The administrator shall establish in the classified service in-service training internships designed to give rigorous training in public service administration for periods not to exceed 3 years under the direct supervision of experienced administrators.

230.046(8) (8) Cooperate for scholarship loans. To stimulate the interest of qualified students of exceptional merit in government career service, the administrator shall cooperate with the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System in providing opportunities for recipients of public service scholarship loans to secure employment under the internship plan.

230.046(9) (9) Tuition refund program. The administrator may establish by rule in the classified service a tuition refund program to supplement departmental training, to encourage employee job-related development and, upon satisfactory completion of training under this program to refund to the employee, an amount not to exceed the cost of tuition and necessary fees.

230.046(10) (10) Functions of the division. The division may do all of the following:

230.046(10)(a) (a) Conduct off-the-job employee development and training programs relating to functions under this chapter or subch. V of ch. 111.

230.046(10)(b) (b) Charge fees to state agencies whose employees participate in employee development and training programs under this subsection.

230.046 History History: 1971 c. 100 s. 23; 1971 c. 270 ss. 56, 91; Stats. 1971 s. 16.33; 1975 c. 39 s. 732 (1); 1977 c. 29; 1977 c. 196 ss. 60, 103, 130 (4), (6m), (11), 131; Stats. 1977 s. 230.046; 1979 c. 221; 1981 c. 20; 1985 a. 29; 1989 a. 31; 1993 a. 112; 1999 a. 9; 2003 a. 33; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 10; 2015 a. 55, 150.

230.046 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. ER 44, Wis. adm. code.

230.047 230.047 Temporary interchange of employees.

230.047(1) (1) Declaration of policy. Intergovernmental cooperation, including that specified in the intergovernmental personnel act of 1970, P.L. 91-648, 84 Stat. 1909, is an essential factor in resolving problems affecting this state. The interchange of personnel on a temporary basis between and among governmental agencies at the same or different levels of government and with institutions of higher education is a significant factor in achieving such cooperation.

230.047(2) (2) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:

230.047(2)(a) (a) “Local government” means any political subdivision, instrumentality or authority of a state or any general or special purpose agency of such a political subdivision, instrumentality or authority.

230.047(2)(b) (b) “Receiving agency” means any department or agency of a foreign government, the federal government or a state or local government, an institution of higher education or other municipal corporate agency which receives an employee of another agency under this section.

230.047(2)(c) (c) “Sending agency” means any department or agency of a foreign government, the federal government or a state or local government, an institution of higher education or other municipal corporate agency which sends any employee thereof to another agency under this section.

230.047(3) (3) Authority to interchange employees. Any department, agency or instrumentality of the state, or institution of higher education or any local government or other municipal corporate agency is authorized to participate in a program of interchange of employees with departments, agencies or instrumentalities of a foreign government, the federal government, another state or local government, an institution of higher education, other municipal corporate agencies or other agencies or instrumentalities of this state as a sending or receiving agency.

230.047(4) (4) Status of employees.

230.047(4)(a) (a) Employees of a sending agency participating in an exchange of personnel as authorized in sub. (3), during such participation, are on detail to regular work assignments of the receiving agency.

230.047(4)(b) (b) Employees who are on detail are entitled to the same salary and benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled and shall remain employees of the sending agency for all purposes, including the payment of their salaries, and their continuous service benefits except that the supervision of their duties during the period of detail may be governed by agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency, and except that a receiving agency other than a receiving agency of this state may provide supplemental salary and benefits to the employee for the duration of the interchange.

230.047(4)(c) (c) Any employee who participates in an exchange under the terms of this section who suffers disability or death as a result of personal injury arising out of and in the course of an exchange, or sustained in performance of duties in connection therewith, for the purposes of ch. 102, is an employee of the sending agency.

230.047(5) (5) Travel expenses of employees. A sending agency of the state shall not pay the travel expenses of its employees incurred in connection with their work assignments at the receiving agency.

230.047(6) (6) Status of employees of other governments.

230.047(6)(a) (a) When any department, agency or instrumentality of this state acts as a receiving agency, employees of the sending agency who are assigned under authority of this section are on detail to the receiving agency.

230.047(6)(b) (b) Employees who are detailed to the receiving agency shall not by virtue of such detail be considered to be employees thereof, nor shall they be paid a salary or wage by the receiving agency during the period of their detail. The supervision of the duties of such employees during the period of detail may be governed by agreement between the sending agency and the receiving agency.

230.047(7) (7) Travel expenses of employees of other governments. A receiving agency of the state may, in accordance with the travel regulations of such agency, pay travel expenses of persons assigned thereto under this section during the period of such assignments on the same basis as if they were regular employees of the receiving agency.

230.047(8) (8) Administration. The administrator shall promulgate rules for the operation and implementation of this section. The rules shall prescribe the duration, terms and conditions of such interchange.

230.047(9) (9) Salary reimbursements.

230.047(9)(a) (a) Any funds received by a sending agency of the state from a receiving agency as reimbursement for salary expenditures made under an employee interchange agreement shall be credited to the appropriation from which the expenditures were paid.

230.047(9)(b) (b) A receiving agency of the state may, in accordance with the salary provisions of the sending agency, reimburse the sending agency for salary and fringe benefit expenditures for employees on detail to the receiving agency.

230.047 History History: 1971 c. 270 ss. 63, 77; Stats. 1971 s. 16.24; 1975 c. 147 s. 54; 1977 c. 196 s. 55; Stats. 1977 s. 230.047; 1979 c. 89, 221; 1983 a. 27, 189; 1991 a. 75; 2003 a. 33; 2015 a. 55.

230.047 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. ER 47, Wis. adm. code.

subch. II of ch. 230 SUBCHAPTER II

CIVIL SERVICE

230.05 230.05 Powers and duties of the director.

230.05(1) (1) All powers necessary for the effective administration of the duties specified for the director under this subchapter are reserved to the director.

230.05(2) (2) 

230.05(2)(a) (a) Except as provided under par. (b), the director may delegate, in writing, any of his or her functions set forth in this subchapter to an appointing authority, within prescribed standards if the director finds that the agency has personnel management capabilities to perform such functions effectively and has indicated its approval and willingness to accept such responsibility by written agreement. If the director determines that any agency is not performing such delegated function within prescribed standards, the director shall withdraw such delegated function. The director may order transfer to the bureau from the agency to which delegation was made such agency staff and other resources as necessary to perform such functions if increased staff was authorized to that agency as a consequence of such delegation or if the bureau reduced staff or shifted staff to new responsibilities as a result of such delegation subject to the approval of the joint committee on finance. Any delegatory action taken under this subsection by any appointing authority may be appealed to the commission under s. 230.44 (1) (a). The director shall be a party in such appeal.

230.05(2)(b) (b) The director is prohibited from delegating any of his or her final responsibility for the monitoring and oversight of the merit recruitment and selection program under this subchapter.

230.05(3) (3) The director may utilize the services of technical or specialized personnel to assist in implementing and maintaining a sound merit recruitment and selection program. These services may be obtained from persons within or without state service.

230.05(4) (4) The director may issue enforceable orders on all matters relating to the administration, enforcement and effect of the provisions of this subchapter for which responsibility is specifically charged to the director and the rules prescribed thereunder. Any action brought against the appointing authority for failure to comply with the order of the director shall be brought and served within 60 days after the date on which the director’s order was issued. Such orders may be appealed to the commission under s. 230.44 (1) (a).

230.05(5) (5) The director shall promulgate rules for the effective operation of the provisions of this subchapter for which responsibility is specifically charged to the director. Notice of the contents of such rules and any modifications thereof shall be given to appointing authorities affected thereby, and such rules and modifications shall also be printed for public distribution.

230.05(6) (6) The director may seek the prior advice and counsel of agency heads in the formulation of policies and procedures concerning the duties specified for the director under this subchapter.

230.05(7) (7) Except as provided in s. 230.212 (1), the director shall use techniques and procedures designed to certify eligible applicants to any vacant permanent position within 30 days after the filing of an appropriate request by an appointing authority.

Effective date note NOTE: Sub. (7) is amended eff. 1-1-29 by 2023 Wis. Act 206 to read:

Effective date text (7) The director shall use techniques and procedures designed to certify eligible applicants to any vacant permanent position within 30 days after the filing of an appropriate request by an appointing authority.

230.05(8) (8) The director may provide any personnel services to nonstate governmental units and may charge the nonstate governmental units for providing the services.

230.05(9) (9) The director may provide any services and materials to agencies and may charge the agencies for providing the services and materials. All moneys received from the charges shall be deposited in the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (kz).

230.05(10) (10) The director shall establish standards for what constitutes a serious violation of the code of ethics for purposes of s. 230.34 (1) (a) 9.

230.05 History History: 1971 c. 125, 270; 1977 c. 196 ss. 26, 105, 130 (5); 1977 c. 273; 1981 c. 20; 1983 a. 27; 1989 a. 31; 1997 a. 216, 237; 2003 a. 33; 2009 a. 28; 2015 a. 55, 150; 2023 a. 206.

230.05 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ER-MRS, Wis. adm. code.

230.05 Annotation The Division of Merit Recruitment and Selection (DMRS) had no authority to control the recruitment process after certification. It was proper to dismiss DMRS as a party to an action alleging discrimination in failing to hire a candidate who had been certified for the position. Balele v. Wisconsin Personnel Commission, 223 Wis. 2d 739, 589 N.W.2d 418 (Ct. App. 1998), 98-1432.

230.05 Annotation An agency cannot prohibit classified employees from running for nonpartisan office except for certain circumstances. 80 Atty. Gen. 68.

230.06 230.06 Powers and duties of appointing authorities.

230.06(1) (1) An appointing authority shall:

230.06(1)(a) (a) Conform to, comply with, and aid in all proper ways in carrying into effect this subchapter and the rules prescribed thereunder.

230.06(1)(b) (b) Appoint persons to or remove persons from the classified service, discipline employees, designate their titles, assign their duties and fix their compensation, all subject to this subchapter and the rules prescribed thereunder.

230.06(1)(c) (c) Provide the director with current information relative to the assignment of duties to permanent classified positions in his or her agency.

230.06(1)(d) (d) Report promptly to the director or the administrator any information the director or the administrator requires in connection with any delegated personnel function and with each appointment, promotion, demotion, suspension or separation from the service or other change in employee status.

230.06(1)(e) (e) When requested by the director or the administrator, provide reports on employee work performance and any other records or information the director or administrator requires to carry out this subchapter.

230.06(1)(f) (f) Provide the administrator with the civil service information required under s. 16.004 (7).

230.06(1)(g) (g) Prepare an affirmative action plan which complies with the standards established by the administrator under s. 230.04 (9) (a) and which sets goals and outlines steps for incorporating affirmative action and principles supporting affirmative action into the procedures and policies of his or her agency.

230.06(1)(h) (h) Ensure that his or her agency complies with its affirmative action plan.

230.06(1)(i) (i) Explore and implement innovative personnel policies to ensure affirmative action.

230.06(1)(j) (j) If his or her agency employs 50 or more employees, create an affirmative action advisory committee which shall advise the appointing authority concerning programs designed to ensure equal opportunity to all employees, applicants for employment and clients of the agency.

230.06(1)(k) (k) Designate an affirmative action officer reporting directly to the appointing authority. The affirmative action officer shall advise and assist the appointing authority in establishing programs to ensure appropriate affirmative action.

230.06(1)(L) (L) Provide information about the employment of each severely disabled employee for the administrator’s report under s. 230.04 (9r) within 30 days after the disabled employee is appointed, and at other times at the request of the administrator.

230.06(1)(m) (m) Prepare a progressive discipline plan that complies with the standards established by the administrator under s. 230.04 (13m).

230.06(1)(n) (n) Prohibit his or her employees from representing themselves by verbal claim, sign, advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way as an engineer unless the employee satisfies one of the following:

230.06(1)(n)1. 1. The employee is a professional engineer, as defined in s. 443.01 (7).

230.06(1)(n)2. 2. The employee has a bachelor of science or higher degree in engineering.

230.06(1)(o) (o) Notwithstanding ss. 111.321, 111.322, and 111.335 and with the assistance of the department of justice, conduct a background investigation of any person selected to fill a position in the civil service who, in fulfilling the duties of the position, will have access to federal tax information received directly from the federal Internal Revenue Service or from a source that is authorized by the federal Internal Revenue Service. The background investigation may include requiring the person to be fingerprinted on 2 fingerprint cards each bearing a complete set of the person’s fingerprints, or by other technologies approved by law enforcement agencies. The department of justice shall submit any such fingerprint cards to the federal bureau of investigation for the purposes of verifying the identity of the person fingerprinted and obtaining records of his or her criminal arrests and convictions.

230.06(1m) (1m) Notwithstanding ss. 111.321, 111.322, and 111.335, at any interval determined appropriate by the director, an appointing authority may conduct, in the manner specified in sub. (1) (o), additional background investigations of any person for whom an initial background investigation has been conducted under sub. (1) (o) and background investigations of any other person employed by the appointing authority who, in fulfilling the duties of his or her position, has access to federal tax information received directly from the federal Internal Revenue Service or from a source that is authorized by the federal Internal Revenue Service.

230.06(2) (2) An appointing authority may delegate in writing part or all of his or her power of appointment, including discipline and removal.

230.06(3) (3) All reports and records submitted under sub. (1) shall be prepared and presented at such times and in such manner as the director or administrator prescribes.

230.06(4) (4) An appointing authority shall maintain permanently an employee’s disciplinary records in the employee’s personnel file. Unless otherwise ordered by a court or, during the grievance process under s. 230.445, by the appointing authority, administrator, or commission, or unless otherwise agreed to in a settlement agreement, disciplinary records may not be removed from an employee’s personnel file.

230.06 History History: 1971 c. 270; 1973 c. 333; 1977 c. 196 ss. 28, 106, 130 (5); 1981 c. 20; 1983 a. 27 ss. 1605g, 2200 (15); 1987 a. 32; 1991 a. 288, 315; 2003 a. 33; 2015 a. 55, 150; 2017 a. 111, 154, 365; 2021 a. 238 s. 45.

230.08 230.08 Classification of civil service.

230.08(1) (1) Classes. The civil service is divided into the unclassified service and the classified service.

230.08(2) (2) Unclassified service. The unclassified service comprises positions held by: