SB1064,,104 (k) “Family member” means a spouse or domestic partner of a covered individual; a parent, child, sibling, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparent, stepgrandparent, or grandchild of a covered individual or a covered individual’s spouse or domestic partner; or any other person who is related by blood, marriage, or adoption to a covered individual or to a covered individual’s spouse or domestic partner or whose close association with the covered individual, spouse, or domestic partner makes the person the equivalent of a family member of the covered individual, spouse, or domestic partner.

SB1064,,105 (L) “Grandchild” means the child of a child.

SB1064,,106 (m) “Grandparent” means the parent of a parent.

SB1064,,107 (n) “Medical leave” means leave from employment, self-employment, or availability for employment when a covered individual has a serious health condition that makes the individual unable to perform the individual’s employment or self-employment duties or makes the individual unable to perform the duties of any suitable employment.

SB1064,,108 (o) “Parent” means a natural parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, stepparent, legal guardian of a covered individual or a covered individual’s spouse or domestic partner, or individual who stood in the place of a parent when the covered individual or the covered individual’s spouse or domestic partner was a minor.

SB1064,,109 (p) “Self-employed individual” means a sole proprietor, independent contractor, partner of a partnership, member of a limited liability company, or other self-employed individual engaged in a vocation, profession, or business in this state.

SB1064,,110 (q) “Serious health condition” has the meaning given in s. 103.10 (1) (g).

SB1064,,111 (r) “Sibling” means a brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister, whether by blood, marriage, adoption, or foster relationship.

SB1064,,112 (s) “Spouse” means a covered individual’s legal husband or wife.

SB1064,,113 (2) Election by self-employed individual. A self-employed individual may elect to be covered under this section by filing a written notice of election with the department in a form and manner prescribed by the department by rule. An initial election under this subsection becomes effective on the date on which the notice of election is filed, shall be for a period of not less than 3 years, and may be renewed for subsequent one-year periods by the filing of a written notice with the department that the self-employed individual intends to continue coverage under this section. A self-employed individual who elects coverage under this section may withdraw that election no earlier than 3 years after the date of the initial election or at such other times as the department may prescribe by rule by providing notice of that withdrawal to the department not less than 30 days before the expiration date of the election.

SB1064,,114 (3) Eligibility for benefits. (a) A covered individual who is on family or medical leave is eligible to receive family or medical leave insurance benefits in the amount specified in sub. (4) and for the duration specified in sub. (5). No family or medical leave insurance benefits are payable for any period of family or medical leave for which a covered individual is receiving unemployment insurance benefits under ch. 108 or worker’s compensation benefits under ch. 102 for a total disability.

SB1064,,115 (b) To receive family or medical leave insurance benefits, a covered individual shall file a claim for those benefits not more than 60 days before the anticipated start date of family or medical leave and not more than 90 days after the start date in the manner that the department prescribes by rule. The department may waive the 90-day deadline for good cause. On receipt of a claim for family or medical leave insurance benefits, the department may request from the employee’s employer or from the self-employed individual any information necessary for the department to determine the individual’s eligibility for those benefits and the amount and duration of those benefits. The employer or self-employed individual shall provide that information to the department within the time and in the manner that the department prescribes by rule. A covered individual is not required to provide exact dates of leave on an application for benefits, and the department may modify benefits amounts through a claims modification process. If the department determines that a covered individual is eligible to receive family or medical leave insurance benefits, the department shall provide those benefits to the individual as provided in subs. (4) to (6).

SB1064,,116 (4) Amount of benefits. (a) For the purposes of this subsection, average weekly earnings shall be calculated as set forth in s. 102.11 (1). Subject to pars. (b) and (c), the amount of family or medical leave insurance benefits for a week of leave for which those benefits are payable is as follows:

SB1064,,117 1. For the amount of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings that are up to 50 percent of the state average weekly earnings as determined under s. 108.05, 90 percent of that individual’s average weekly earnings.

SB1064,,118 2. For the amount of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings that are more than 50 percent of the state average weekly earnings as determined under s. 108.05, 50 percent of that individual’s average weekly earnings.

SB1064,,119 (b) The amount of family or medical leave insurance benefits for a fractional week of leave for which those benefits are payable is one-seventh of the covered individual’s weekly benefit amount under par. (a), multiplied by the number of days of leave taken that week. Family or medical leave insurance benefits are not payable for a period of leave of less than one day in duration.

SB1064,,120 (c) The maximum weekly benefit amount of a covered individual’s family or medical leave insurance benefits is the state average weekly earnings, as determined under s. 108.05. The department shall annually have the maximum amount of the weekly benefit published in the Wisconsin Administrative Register.

SB1064,,121 (d) Subject to the maximum amount provided under this subsection, the benefit amount for a covered individual shall be based on the proportion of the covered individual’s typical workweek spent at the employment from which the covered individual is taking family or medical leave. A covered individual who has more than one employer and who is receiving benefits based on the individual’s employment with one employer may continue to work and receive pay from another employer.

SB1064,,122 (5) Duration of benefits. (a) The maximum number of weeks for which family or medical leave insurance benefits are payable in an application year is 12 weeks for any leave specified under ss. 103.10 (3) (b) 1. to 8 and 103.11 and 14 weeks for any combination of leave specified under ss. 103.10 (3) and (4) and 103.11. A covered individual may be paid family or medical leave insurance benefits continuously or, at the option of the covered individual, intermittently.

SB1064,,123 (b) Family or medical leave insurance benefits are payable beginning on the first day that a covered individual takes family or medical leave. The first payment of family or medical leave insurance benefits shall be made no later than one week after a covered individual files a claim for those benefits or within one week of the first day the claim is approved, whichever is later. Subsequent payments shall be made no less often than semimonthly.

SB1064,,124 (6) Employer-provided benefits. (a) Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from providing employees with rights to family or medical leave insurance benefits that are more generous to the employee than the benefits provided under this section. Except as provided in par. (b), no employer may require an employee to use or exhaust paid leave or other benefits provided by an employer before or while receiving benefits under this section. An employee may use any accrued paid leave benefits while receiving benefits under this section, unless the aggregate amount of money would exceed the employee’s average weekly earnings.

SB1064,,125 (b) An employer may require that benefits paid under this section be coordinated with payments under the terms of a short-term disability policy, a stand-alone bank of paid leave designated solely for family or medical leave, or under a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy. An employer shall provide employees with written notice of this requirement.

SB1064,,126 (7) Position upon return from leave. (a) When an employee who receives benefits under this section returns from family leave or medical leave, the employee’s employer shall follow the procedures set forth in s. 103.10 (8) to place the employee in a position with the employer.

SB1064,,127 (b) No employer may, because an employee received family or medical leave insurance benefits, reduce or deny an employment benefit that accrued to the employee before the employee’s leave began or, consistent with s. 103.10 (8), accrued after the employee’s leave began.

SB1064,,128 (8) Tax treatment of benefits. With respect to the federal income taxation of family or medical leave insurance benefits, the department shall do all of the following:

SB1064,,129 (a) Request an opinion from the internal revenue service on the taxability of the benefits under federal law.

SB1064,,130 (b) At the time a covered individual files a claim for those benefits, advise the individual that those benefits may be subject to federal income taxation, that requirements exist under federal law pertaining to estimated tax payments, and that the individual may elect to have federal income taxes withheld from the individual’s benefit payments and may change that election not more than one time in an application year.

SB1064,,131 (c) Allow the covered individual to elect to have federal income tax deducted and withheld from the individual’s benefit payments, allow the individual to change that election not more than one time in an application year, and deduct and withhold that tax in accordance with the individual’s election as provided under 26 USC 3402.

SB1064,,132 (d) Upon making a deduction under par. (c), transfer the amount deducted from the family and medical leave insurance trust fund to the federal internal revenue service.