AB 854

Under the current duty disability program under the Wisconsin Retirement

System (WRS), a protective occupation participant may receive a duty disability

benefit, equal to 75 percent of his or her monthly salary, if all of the following occur:

the employee is injured while performing his or her duty or contracts a disease due

to his or her occupation; the disability is likely to be permanent; and the disability

causes the employee to retire from his or her job, the employee's pay or position is

reduced or he or she is assigned to light duty, or the employee's promotional

opportunities are generally adversely affected because of the disability.

This bill eliminates the conditions that relate to whether the employee's pay or

position is reduced or he or she is assigned to light duty or the employee's promotional

opportunities are generally adversely affected because of the disability and, instead,

provides that, if an employer offers an employee who qualifies for a duty disability

benefit another position and the employee does not accept the offer, the employee

may not receive a duty disability benefit. If an employee accepts such an offer of

employment, the amount of the employee's monthly benefit is reduced by all earnings

payable to the employee from the employer.

The bill also requires that an employee receiving a duty disability must be

reexamined by at least one licensed and practicing physician, designated or

approved by the Wisconsin Retirement Board, every five years to determine whether

the employee's disability is likely to be permanent. Under the bill, the duty disability

benefit for an employee is terminated if the employee refuses to undergo the

examination or if the examination reveals that the disability is no longer permanent.

In addition, the bill requires the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) to conduct a

program evaluation audit of the duty disability and survivor benefits program under

the WRS and any comparable program under a retirement system of a county having

a population of 500,000 or more and a retirement system of a 1st class city. Under

the bill, LAB must examine the history and purpose of the programs; the costs and

benefits of the programs to state and local governments; any inequities, abuse, or

other problems of the programs; and the similarities and differences between the

programs and those of similar programs in other states. The bill also requires LAB

to consider and propose changes to the design and implementation of the duty

disability and survivor benefits programs.

Finally, the bill creates, as a prohibited subject of collective bargaining for

municipal and state employees who are police officers, fire fighters, or emergency

service providers (public safety employees), benefit features of, and eligibility

conditions and methodology for obtaining and continuing to receive, any type of duty

disability and survivor benefits as well as the impact of the features and such

conditions and methodology on the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of

the public safety employee.