SB 8

Introduction

This bill makes various changes to the Wisconsin family and medical leave law

to conform that law to the federal family and medical leave law.

Leave requirement

Coverage of leave requirement.

Under current law, an employer, including

the state, that employs at least 50 individuals on a permanent basis in this state

must permit an employee who has been employed by the employer for more than 52

consecutive weeks and who has worked for the employer for at least 1,000 hours

during the preceding 52 weeks to take six weeks of family leave in a 12-month period

for the birth or adoptive placement of a child or to care for a child, spouse, parent,

or domestic partner of the employee or a parent of the spouse of the employee who

has a serious health condition; and two weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period

when the employee has a serious health condition that makes the employee unable

to perform the employee's employment duties.

This bill requires an employer that employs at least 50 individuals for each

working day for 20 or more weeks in the current or preceding year and the state or

a political subdivision of the state, regardless of the number of employees employed,

(employer) to permit an employee who has been employed by the employer for at least

12 months and who has worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer during the

preceding 12-months (employee) to take 12 weeks of family or medical leave in a

12-month period. The bill, however, excludes from coverage under the family or

medical leave law an employee who works at a worksite with fewer than 50

employees if the employer employs fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles of the

worksite.

Service member family leave.

The bill requires an employer to permit an

employee who is the spouse, child, parent, domestic partner, or next of kin of a

member of the U.S. armed forces or veteran who is undergoing medical treatment,

recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness that was incurred or

aggravated in the line of duty (covered service member) to take 26 weeks of leave in

a single 12-month period to care for the covered service member (service member

family leave).

Family leave for active duty of family member.

The bill also requires an

employer to permit an employee to take family leave because of any qualifying

exigency, as determined by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) by

rule, arising out of the fact that the spouse, child, domestic partner, or parent of the

employee is on deployment with the U.S. armed forces to a foreign country (covered

active duty) or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty