SB1,,147147103.10 (12) (b) An employee who believes his or her employer has violated sub. (11) (a) or (b) may, within 30 300 days after the violation occurs or the employee should reasonably have known that the violation occurred, whichever is later, file a complaint with the department alleging the violation. Except as provided in s. 230.45 (1m), the department shall investigate the complaint and shall attempt to resolve the complaint by conference, conciliation or persuasion. If the complaint is not resolved and the department finds probable cause to believe a violation has occurred, the department shall proceed with notice and a hearing on the complaint as provided in ch. 227. The hearing shall be held within 60 days after the department receives the complaint.

SB1,,149149103.10 (12) (c) If 2 or more health care providers disagree about any of the information required to be certified under sub. (7) (b), the department may appoint another health care provider to examine the child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or employee and render an opinion as soon as possible. The department shall promptly notify the employee and the employer of the appointment. The employer and the employee shall each pay 50 percent of the cost of the examination and opinion.

SB1,,153153103.105 Family and medical leave benefits insurance program. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB1,,154154(a) “Application year” means the 12-month period beginning on the first day of the first calendar week for which family or medical leave insurance benefits are claimed by a covered individual.

SB1,,155155(b) “Average weekly earnings” means one-thirteenth of the wages paid to an employee during the last completed calendar quarter prior to the covered individual’s date of eligibility for benefits under this section and includes all sick, holiday, vacation, and termination pay that is paid directly by an employer to an employee at the employee’s usual rate of pay during his or her last completed calendar quarter as a result of employment for an employer and any total or partial disability payments under ch. 102 or a federal law that provides for payments on account of a work-related injury or illness. For self-employed individuals, “average weekly earnings” means one fifty-second of the gross income reported as income to the federal internal revenue service in the most recent tax year in which the individual filed taxes prior to the individual’s date of eligibility for benefits under this section.

SB1,,156156(c) “Covered individual” means an employee who satisfies s. 103.10 (2) (c), a self-employed individual who elects coverage under sub. (2), or an employee of a small employer who elects coverage under sub. (2), regardless of whether the individual is employed or unemployed at the time the individual files an application for family or medical leave insurance benefits.

SB1,,157157(d) “Employee” has the meaning given in s. 103.10 (1) (b).

SB1,,158158(e) “Employer” has the meaning given in s. 103.10 (1) (c).

SB1,,159159(f) “Family leave” means an individual’s leave from employment, self-employment, or availability for employment for a reason specified in s. 103.10 (3) (b) 1. to 7. or 103.11 (4).

SB1,,160160(g) “Family or medical leave insurance benefits” means benefits payable under this section from the family and medical leave benefits insurance trust fund.

SB1,,161161(h) “Medical leave” means leave from employment, self-employment, or availability for employment for any of the reasons in s. 103.10 (4).

SB1,,162162(i) “Self-employed individual” means a sole proprietor, partner of a partnership, member of a limited liability company, or other individual engaged in a vocation, profession, or business for himself or herself and not for an employer.

SB1,,163163(j) “Small employer” means a person engaging in any activity, enterprise, or business in this state employing fewer than 50 individuals on a permanent basis.

SB1,,164164(k) “State annual median wage” means the median hourly wage for all occupations in this state in a calendar year, as determined by the bureau of labor statistics of the U.S. department of labor, multiplied by 2,080.

SB1,,165165(2) Election by self-employed individual or small employer. A self-employed individual or small employer 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 or small employer intends to continue coverage under this section. A self-employed individual or small employer 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.

SB1,,166166(3) Eligibility for benefits. (a) Except as otherwise provided in sub. (6), a covered individual who is on family leave 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).

SB1,,167167(b) To receive family or medical leave insurance benefits, a covered individual shall file a claim for those benefits within the time and in the manner that the department prescribes by rule. On receipt of a claim for family or medical leave insurance benefits, the department may request from the individual’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. 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) and (5).

SB1,,168168(4) Amount of benefits. Except as provided in sub. (6), the amount of family or medical leave insurance benefits payable for a week shall be based upon the covered individual’s average weekly earnings, as follows:

SB1,,169169(a) For the amount of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings that are less than 50 percent of the state annual median wage in the calendar year before the covered individual’s application year, 90 percent of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings.

SB1,,170170(b) For the amount of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings that are more than or equal to 50 percent of the state annual median wage in the calendar year before the covered individual’s application year, 50 percent of the covered individual’s average weekly earnings.

SB1,,171171(5) Duration of benefits. The maximum number of weeks for which family or medical leave insurance benefits are payable in an application year is 12 weeks. A covered individual may be paid family or medical leave insurance benefits continuously, or at the option of the covered individual, intermittently.

SB1,,172172(6) Employer exemption from participation in paid family and medical leave benefits insurance program. (a) If an employer provides family and medical leave benefits that are identical to or more generous than benefits provided under this section, the employer may elect to not participate in the paid family and medical leave benefits insurance program under this section. If the department grants an exemption under this subsection, the employer shall pay benefits that are at least identical to benefits under this section, and an employee is entitled to be paid those benefits.

SB1,,173173(b) An employer that elects to not participate in the paid family and medical leave benefits insurance program under this section shall request an exemption from the department in writing, in the manner prescribed by the department. An exemption from participation is not effective until approved by the department in writing.