ETF 20.12(1)(a)(a) The purpose of this section is to establish the circumstances under which some or all payments made as a remedy for an employment dispute may be treated as earnings for Wisconsin retirement system purposes and to state the elements required for such treatment.

ETF 20.12(1)(b)(b) This section applies to court orders and compromise settlements having an effective date which is on or after May 16, 1996.

ETF 20.12(1)(c)(c) This section does not apply to retroactive or other wage payments made to all eligible employees in a bargaining unit under a collective bargaining contract.

ETF 20.12(2)(a)(a) “Compromise settlement,” for purposes of this section, means a written, binding agreement between a participating employer and a current or former participating employee of that employer, to settle a wage claim or a dispute involving an involuntary suspension or termination of participating employment. For purposes of this section only, the department shall treat a final order issued by the Wisconsin employment relations commission or an arbitration award under a collective bargaining agreement, for which all appeal opportunities have expired without an appeal being filed, as a compromise settlement.

ETF 20.12(2)(b)(b) “Effective date” of the court order or compromise settlement, for purposes of this section, means the date an order of the court, the Wisconsin employment relations commission, or an arbitrator is issued or, when the matter is resolved by a compromise settlement signed by the parties rather than a final order, the date on which the compromise settlement in its final form is first signed by all of the parties.

ETF 20.12(3)(3) Except as provided in this section, no payment resulting from a court order or compromise settlement may be considered as earnings for Wisconsin retirement system purposes. The department may decline to act on a court order or compromise settlement which does not contain all of the information required under this section or is otherwise defective.

ETF 20.12(4)(4) Subject to all provisions of this section, the department shall treat as earnings for Wisconsin retirement system purposes a payment made under a court order or compromise settlement by a participating employer to an employee or former employee provided all of the following conditions are met:

ETF 20.12(4)(a)(a) The payment is one of the following:

ETF 20.12(4)(a)1.1. Retroactive wages paid to a participant for a period following an involuntary termination of the employee’s participating employment by that participating employer, which are paid under court order or the terms of a compromise settlement which also expunges the previously reported termination.

ETF 20.12(4)(a)2.2. Retroactive wages paid to a participant for a period during which the participating employee was involuntarily placed on unpaid leave or suspension by that participating employer.

ETF 20.12(4)(a)3.3. Additional wages properly due to a continuously participating employee from that participating employer for hours of service actually rendered and previously reported to the department.

ETF 20.12(4)(a)4.4. Additional wages properly due to a continuously participating employee from that participating employer for hours of service actually rendered but not previously reported to the department.

ETF 20.12(4)(b)(b) The employee or former employee is living on the effective date of the court order or compromise settlement.

ETF 20.12(4)(c)(c) The court order or compromise settlement is in writing and is signed and dated by the issuing authority or by the parties to the agreement.

ETF 20.12(4)(d)(d) The court order or compromise settlement specifies the wages to be paid to the employee for each annual earnings period and the associated hours of service actually rendered by the employee or that would have been rendered but for the disputed suspension or termination.

ETF 20.12(4)(e)(e) The employer reports the wages and hours of service to the department under a transaction code designated by the department for actions resulting from court orders and compromise settlements. At the department’s request, the employer shall report wages and hours of service in sufficient detail to enable the department readily to calculate the wages and hours for each payroll period during the period under dispute and shall distinguish between additional wages, if any, paid for hours of service previously reported to the department, and wages and hours of service not previously reported.

ETF 20.12(4)(f)(f) If the dispute concerns a termination of participating employment or if the amount of wages reported under par. (e) exceeds the employee’s current basic rate of pay multiplied by 80, the employer submits with the transaction report the original court order or compromise settlement or a complete copy thereof. The department may require submittal of the court order or compromise settlement associated with a smaller wage payment. If the employer fails to submit the transaction report and the court order or compromise settlement, if required, within 90 days after the effective date, the employee, the collective bargaining agent, or the issuing court or agency may submit a complete copy of the court order or compromise settlement to the department for purposes of requesting employer reporting.

ETF 20.12(4)(g)(g) The employer remits required contributions on the wages, or that portion of the wages which the department treats as earnings, including interest computed under s. 40.06 (5), Stats., and s. ETF 10.635.

ETF 20.12(4)(h)(h) If the remedy includes payment of wages for a period following a disputed termination of participating employment, the court order or compromise settlement does all of the following:

ETF 20.12(4)(h)1.1. Directs the employer to rescind the termination date previously reported to the department and, if the employee is not to be reinstated, specifies the date on which the employee-employer relationship terminated, which date shall be treated as the termination date for Wisconsin retirement system purposes. This date may not be later than the effective date of the court order or compromise settlement.

ETF 20.12(4)(h)2.2. Directs the employer to pay the employee all wages from the rescinded termination date to the date the employee returns to work or the new termination date reported under subd. 1. as if the employee had been continuously employed throughout the period under the conditions of employment prevailing prior to the termination, except that the court order or compromise settlement may direct that wages be reduced by amounts earned from other sources and may identify a period of suspension for which wages are not paid.

ETF 20.12(5)(a)(a) A payment that results from resolution of a dispute over the employer’s failure to hire a person. Any payment in such cases shall be considered by the department as a damage award. This paragraph does not exclude retroactive wages related to a participating employer’s failure to hire a participating employee of that employer for another position, provided the court order or compromise settlement also directs that the employee’s basic pay rate be permanently increased.

ETF 20.12(5)(b)(b) A payment directed by a court order or compromise settlement if either the specified hours of service or associated wages exceed the creditable service and earnings which would have been properly reported for the employee if the employee had been continuously employed through the period at issue under the conditions of employment prevailing prior to the dispute.

ETF 20.12(5)(c)(c) A payment directed by a court order or compromise settlement which purports to pay earnings in one annual earnings period which actually result from employment during another annual earnings period or a combination of annual earnings periods.