DWD 272.09(1)(c)(c) “Employment relationship” means the relationship that exists whenever an individual, including an individual with a disability, is permitted to work. DWD 272.09(1)(d)(d) “Experienced worker” means a worker who has learned the basic elements or requirements of the work to be performed, ordinarily by completion of a probationary or training period. DWD 272.09(1)(e)(e) “Institution” means an entity which may be either a public or private entity and either a nonprofit or a for profit entity that receives more than 50% of its income from providing residential care for sick, aged, or mentally ill persons or persons with intellectual disabilities. “Institution” includes hospitals, nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, rest homes, convalescent homes, homes for the elderly and infirm, halfway houses, and residential centers for the treatment of drug addiction or alcoholism, whether licensed under s. 50.01, Stats., or not licensed. DWD 272.09(1)(f)(f) “Patient worker” means a worker with a disability employed by a hospital or institution providing residential care where the worker receives treatment or care without regard to whether the worker is a resident of the establishment. In determining whether a patient worker is “employed”, the department shall consider whether the work performed is of any consequential economic benefit to the institution. Work is considered to be of consequential economic benefit if it is of the type that workers without disabilities normally perform. A patient does not become an employee if the patient merely performs personal housekeeping chores and receives token remuneration in connection with this activity. It may also be possible for patients in group homes or other family like settings to rotate or share household tasks or chores without becoming employees. DWD 272.09(1)(g)(g) “Sheltered workshop” means a rehabilitation facility which is a charitable organization or institution conducted not for profit, but for the purpose of carrying out a recognized program of rehabilitation for workers with disabilities providing such individuals with remunerative employment or other occupational rehabilitating activity of an educational or therapeutic nature. DWD 272.09(1)(h)(h) “Sheltered workshop training program” or ‘‘rehabilitation training program” means a program of not more than 12 months duration designed to: DWD 272.09(1)(h)1.1. Develop the patterns of behavior which will help a client adjust to a work environment, or DWD 272.09(1)(h)2.2. Teach the skills and knowledge related to a specific occupational objective of a job family, and which meets the department of workforce development, division of vocational rehabilitation or equivalent standards. DWD 272.09(1)(i)(i) “Special minimum wage” means a wage authorized under a license issued to an employer that is less than the statutory minimum wage. DWD 272.09(1)(j)(j) “Sponsoring agency” means a sheltered workshop, governmental agency or a nonprofit charitable organization or institution carrying out an occupational rehabilitating activity of an educational or therapeutic nature. DWD 272.09(1)(k)(k) “Student learner” means a student who is receiving instruction in an accredited school, college or university and who is employed on a part-time basis, pursuant to a bona fide vocational training program. DWD 272.09(1)(L)(L) “Vicinity” or “locality” means the geographic area from which the labor force of the community is drawn. DWD 272.09(1)(m)(m) “Work activity center” means a rehabilitation facility, a workshop or a physically separated department of a workshop having an identifiable program, separate supervision and records, planned and designed exclusively to provide therapeutic activities for workers with disabilities whose physical or mental impairment is so severe as to make their productive capacity inconsequential. DWD 272.09(1)(n)(n) “Worker with a disability” means an individual whose earnings or productive capacity is impaired by a physical or intellectual disability, including those relating to age or injury, for the work to be performed. Disabilities which may affect earning or productive capacity include blindness, mental illness, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, alcoholism and drug addiction. The following, taken by themselves, are not considered disabilities for the purposes of this section: vocational, social, cultural, or educational disabilities; chronic unemployment; receipt of welfare benefits; nonattendance at school; juvenile delinquency; and correctional parole or probation. Further, a disability which may affect earning or productive capacity for one type of work may not have this effect for another type of work. DWD 272.09(2)(a)(a) An individual whose earning or productive capacity is not impaired for the work being performed cannot be employed under a license and shall be paid at least the applicable minimum wage. An individual whose earning or productive capacity is impaired to the extent that the individual is unable to earn at least the applicable minimum wage may be paid a commensurate wage, but only after the employer has obtained a license authorizing the payment of a special minimum wage from the department. DWD 272.09(2)(b)(b) The employer may not deduct from the commensurate wages of patient workers employed in institutions to cover the cost of room, board or other services provided by the facility. A patient worker shall receive wages with no deductions except for amounts deducted for taxes and any voluntary wage assignments. These rules do not preclude the institution from assessing or collecting charges for room, board and other services actually provided to an individual to the extent permitted by federal or state law and on the same basis as it assesses and collects from nonworking patients. DWD 272.09(2)(c)(c) Under this chapter, an employment relationship arises whenever an individual is permitted to work. The determination as to the existence of an employment relationship does not depend upon the level of performance or whether the work is of some therapeutic benefit. It does not include such activities as making craft products when the individual voluntarily participates in such activities and the products become the property of the individual making them, or all the funds resulting from the sale of the products are divided among the participants in the activity or are used in purchasing additional materials to make craft products. DWD 272.09(3)(3) Compensable time. The employer shall compensate employees for all hours worked. Compensable time includes not only those hours during which the individual is actually performing productive work but also includes those hours when no work is performed but the individual is required by the employer to remain available for the next assignment. If the individual is completely relieved from duty and is not required to remain available for the next assignment, the time will not be considered compensable time. The burden of establishing that any hours are not compensable rests with the facility and the hours must be clearly distinguishable from compensable hours. DWD 272.09 NoteNote: As an example, a person employed by a rehabilitation facility would not be engaged in a compensable activity if the person is completely relieved from duty but is provided therapy or the opportunity to participate in an alternative program or activity in the facility that does not involve work and is not directly related to the person’s job (examples are self-help skills training, recreation, job seeking skills training, independent living skills, or adult basic education).
DWD 272.09(4)(a)(a) The department may grant temporary authority to an employer to permit the employment of workers with disabilities pursuant to a vocational rehabilitation program of the U.S. department of veterans affairs for veterans with a service-incurred disability or a vocational rehabilitation program administered by a state agency. DWD 272.09(4)(b)(b) Temporary authority under this subsection is effective for 90 days from the date that the designated section of the application form is completed and signed by the representative of the state agency or the U.S. department of veterans affairs, if the application form is sent to the department within 10 days of the signing. Temporary authority under this subsection may not be renewed or extended by the department. DWD 272.09(4)(c)(c) The signed application form constitutes the temporary authority to employ workers with disabilities at special minimum wage rates. The department shall review all applications under this subsection upon receipt and shall issue a license when the criteria for licensing are met. The department shall promptly notify the applicant if additional information is required or if the license is denied. DWD 272.09(5)(5) Criteria for employment under a special minimum wage rate license. DWD 272.09(5)(a)(a) To determine whether the approval of special minimum wage rates is necessary in order to prevent the curtailment of opportunities for employment and to determine whether a particular employee will receive a commensurate wage, the department shall consider the following criteria: DWD 272.09(5)(a)1.1. The nature and extent of the disabilities of the employee as these disabilities relate to the employee’s productivity.