SB 634

This bill preempts local governments from enacting or enforcing ordinances

related to various employment matters.

Under current constitutional and statutory home rule provisions, a city or

village may determine its own local affairs subject only to the Wisconsin Constitution

and to any enactment of the legislature that is of statewide concern and that affects

every city or village with uniformity. This bill states that all of the following matters

are matters of statewide concern requiring uniform enforcement at the state, county,

and municipal levels:

1. Regulations related to employment discrimination.

2. Regulations related to wage claims and collections.

3. Regulation of employee hours and overtime, including scheduling of

employee work hours or shifts.

4. The employment benefits an employer may be required to provide to its

employees.

5. An employer's right to solicit information regarding the salary history of

prospective employees.

As such, the bill prohibits any city, village, town, or county (political

subdivision) from enacting or enforcing an ordinance regarding any of those matters.

Under current law, a political subdivision generally may not enact and

administer an ordinance establishing a minimum wage. Current law, however,

exempts from that prohibition an ordinance that requires a different minimum wage

rate for 1) an employee of a political subdivision; 2) an employee who performs work

under a contract for the provision of services to a political subdivision; or 3) an

employee who performs work that is funded by financial assistance from a political

subdivision. The bill eliminates those exemptions.

The bill also prohibits a political subdivision from imposing an occupational

licensing requirement on an individual, to whom a state government occupational

licensing requirement applies, which is more stringent than the state requirement.

Under the bill, neither the state nor a local governmental unit may enact a

statute or ordinance, adopt a policy or regulation, or impose a contract, zoning,

permitting, or licensing requirement, or any other condition, that would require any

person to accept any provision that is a subject of collective bargaining under state

or federal labor laws. The bill defines federal labor laws as the National Labor

Relations Act. Finally, the bill prohibits the state and local governments, and their

employees, from requiring any person to waive the person's rights under state or

federal labor laws as a condition of any other approval by the state or local

governmental unit, and violators of that provision would be subject to the penalties

that apply to a Class A misdemeanor, which is a fine not to exceed $10,000 or

imprisonment not to exceed 9 months, or both.