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There were limited developments in Wisconsin labor & employment law in 2025. However, there is pending legislation of note, including:
- Senate Bill 462 seeks to amend existing child labor laws in
Wisconsin by raising the age at which minors require a work permit
from under 16 years-old to under 18 years-old;
- Senate Bill 451 would allow individuals or the Department of
Workforce Development (DWD) to file a civil action in circuit court
for compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to or instead of
filing an administrative complaint, for allegations of employment
discrimination, unfair honesty testing, or unfair genetic testing
in Wisconsin;
- Senate Bill 540 would make it unlawful for employers to about a
prospective employee's current or prior compensation when
making employment decisions before extending a job offer, to set
criteria based on prior compensation, or to discriminate against
individuals for exercising their rights related to compensation
disclosure;
- Senate Bill 458 seeks to repeal Wisconsin's right-to-work law, which currently prohibits employers from requiring employees to join or refrain from joining labor organizations as a condition of employment.
Also notable is a case concerning 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 (“Act 10”) that is pending in the state appellate court, which could have an impact on collective bargaining and union rights. Act 10 imposed certain restrictions on unions and collective bargaining, significantly including: (1) limiting collective bargaining for most public employees to only wages, and capping wage increases at the rate of inflation; (2) banning unions from deducting dues from employees' paychecks; (3) requiring an annual vote with a threshold of 51% voting “yes” among all union members to maintain union certification, rather than 51% of those voting. On December 2, 2024, in the matter of Abbotsford Education Association v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, the Dane County Circuit Court struck major portions of the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 (“Act 10”), holding that they violated the Wisconsin Constitution's equal protection clause. In prior matters challenging Act 10's constitutionality on other bases, both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Act 10 as constitutional. In January 2025, the court issued a stay of the ruling pending appeal. The case remains pending in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and a ruling is anticipated in 2026.
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