SB1064,,133 (e) In deducting and withholding federal income taxes from a covered individual’s benefit payments, follow all procedures specified by the federal internal revenue service pertaining to the deducting and withholding of federal income tax.

SB1064,,134 (9) Family and medical leave insurance trust fund. (a) The department shall determine the amount of the required contribution by each employee, self-employed individual who elects coverage under sub. (2), and each employer. The required contribution shall be based on the employee’s wages or the self-employed individual’s earnings. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the required contribution for an employee shall be equally shared between each employee and the employee’s employer. For an employer with 50 or fewer employees, the department shall establish tiers of reduced contribution rates based on the number of the employer’s employees. No employer contribution is required from self-employed individuals, and such individuals shall be required to pay only one-half of the required contribution.

SB1064,,135 (b) Each employer shall withhold from the wages of its employees the amount determined by the department under this subsection.

SB1064,,136 (c) The department shall collect the contributions withheld by employers and employer-required contributions under par. (a) in the same manner as the department collects contributions to the unemployment reserve fund under s. 108.17. Section 108.10 applies to issues regarding liability of employers for contributions under this subsection.

SB1064,,137 (d) The department shall collect contributions from self-employed individuals pursuant to procedures established by the department under sub. (13) (b).

SB1064,,138 (e) The department shall deposit contributions received under this subsection into the family and medical leave insurance trust fund and credit them to the appropriation account under s. 20.445 (1) (w).

SB1064,,139 (f) The department shall use moneys deposited into the family and medical leave insurance trust fund to pay benefits under sub. (3) and to pay for the administration of the family and medical leave insurance program under this section and for no other purpose.

SB1064,,140 (10) Denial of claims; overpayments. (a) A covered individual whose claim for family or medical leave insurance benefits is denied by the department, or who believes that benefits approved under this section are less than what the individual is entitled to receive, may request a hearing on the denial or approved benefits, and the department shall process the request for a hearing in the same manner that requests for hearings on unemployment insurance claims are processed under s. 108.09.

SB1064,,141 (b) If the department pays family or medical leave insurance benefits erroneously or as a result of willful misrepresentation, the department may seek repayment of those benefits in the same manner that the department recovers erroneous payments of unemployment insurance benefits under ss. 108.095, 108.22 (8), and 108.225. The department may waive recovery of an erroneous payment of family or medical leave insurance benefits if the erroneous payment was not the fault of the individual who received it and if requiring repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience. If an individual willfully makes a false statement or representation, or willfully fails to disclose a material fact, to obtain family or medical leave insurance benefits under this section, the department may determine that the individual is disqualified from receiving those benefits for up to one year after the date of the disqualification.

SB1064,,142 (11) Prohibited acts. (a) No person may interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under this section.

SB1064,,143 (b) No person may discharge or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against any person for exercising any right provided under this section, opposing a practice prohibited under this section, filing a complaint or attempting to enforce any right provided under this section, or testifying or assisting in any action or proceeding to enforce any right provided under this section.

SB1064,,144 (c) No collective bargaining agreement or employer policy may diminish or abridge an employee’s rights under this section, including any policy regarding employee absences. Any agreement purporting to waive or modify an employee’s rights under this section is void as against public policy and unenforceable.

SB1064,,145 (12) Enforcement. (a) Any individual who believes that his or her rights under this section have been interfered with, restrained, or denied in violation of sub. (11) (a) or that he or she has been discharged or otherwise discriminated against in violation of sub. (11) (b) may, within 60 days after the violation occurs or the individual should reasonably have known that the violation occurred, whichever is later, file a complaint with the department alleging the violation, and the department shall process the complaint in the same manner as complaints filed under s. 103.10 (12) (b) are processed. If the department finds that an employer has violated sub. (11) (a) to (c), the department may order the employer to take action to remedy the violation, including providing the requested family or medical leave, reinstating an employee, providing back pay accrued not more than 2 years before the complaint was filed, and, notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), paying reasonable actual attorney fees to the complainant.

SB1064,,146 (b) After the completion of an administrative proceeding under par. (a), including judicial review, an employee or the department may bring an action in circuit court against an employer to recover damages caused by a violation of sub. (11) (a) to (c). Section 103.10 (13) (b) applies to the commencement of an action under this paragraph.

SB1064,,147 (13) Administration. The department shall administer the family and medical leave insurance program under this section. In administering the program, the department shall do all of the following:

SB1064,,148 (a) Establish procedures and forms for filing claims for benefits under this section.

SB1064,,149 (b) Establish procedures and forms for collecting contributions from self-employed individuals.

SB1064,,150 (c) Collect demographic information of claimants.

SB1064,,151 (d) Promulgate rules to implement this section.

SB1064,,152 (e) Use information sharing and integration technology to facilitate the exchange of information as necessary for the department to perform its duties under this section.

SB1064,,153 (f) Conduct a public outreach campaign to inform employers, employees, self-employed individuals, and other covered individuals regarding the family and medical leave insurance program under this section. Information provided under this paragraph shall be provided in English and in any other language customarily spoken by more than 20 percent of the population of this state.

SB1064,,154 (g) By September 1 of each year, submit a report to the governor, the joint committee on finance, and the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) on the family and medical leave insurance program under this section. The report shall include all of the following:

SB1064,,155 1. The projected and actual rates of participation in the program, aggregated by reason for use of the paid leave benefits.

SB1064,,156 2. The premium rates for coverage under the program.

SB1064,,157 3. The current balance and projected balance for the upcoming year in the family and medical leave insurance trust fund under s. 25.52.

SB1064,,158 4. Average duration of paid leave benefits, aggregated by reason for use of the paid leave benefits.

SB1064,,159 5. Average weekly benefit amount.

SB1064,,160 6. Aggregated demographic information about each applicant and covered individual who received benefits in the preceding calendar year, including age, gender, race, ethnicity, primary language, residential zip code, average weekly earnings, occupation, and employment type.

SB1064,,161 7. Number of appeals filed and outcomes of appeals.