The Wisconsin Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates.

$7.25 per hour for most employees

As of October 2024, Wisconsin wage and hour laws don't allow different cities to set their own minimum wage.

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate employers are legally obligated to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips.

$2.33 per hour for all employees

The Wisconsin state overtime laws apply to most workers, including any state and local units of government.

Workers must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek, regardless of their age.

Minors who are 16-17 years old must receive 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours worked over 10 hours per day, or 40 hours per week.

Wisconsin break and meal period laws require you to provide a 30-minute break to workers who are under 18 years old. The break is applied for every six consecutive hours of work. Shorter break periods may be given but are not required by law.

Wisconsin doesn't have state laws requiring meal or rest breaks for workers over 18. However, under federal law, breaks less than 30 consecutive minutes must be included in wages.

However, if the employee is "on duty" and takes a break longer than 30 consecutive minutes, the break is counted as work time and you must pay the employee for the break period. If the employee is relieved of any work duties and is allowed to leave the premises, breaks more than 30 consecutive minutes do not need to be paid out.

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Vacation leave
Wisconsin employment laws don't require public or private employers to give vacation time to workers, either with or without pay. Any agreements for leave are strictly between you as the employer and the employee. If an agreement is made for leave, employees have the right to file a wage claim with the DOL for unpaid wages.

Paid sick leave
Neither private nor public employers are required to provide paid or unpaid sick leave to workers in Wisconsin. 

Holidays
Wisconsin has no laws that require private employers to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave. Only state-employed workers are eligible for holiday leave.

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Workers must be at least 14 years old to be employed or permitted to work. Any workers between the ages of 12-15 are required to have a valid work permit before any work is performed.

All minors are entitled to a 30-minute, duty-free meal break if working six consecutive hours.

No state or federal law limits the hours that minors 16 or older may work except that they aren't allowed to work during school attendance periods.

Maximum hours of work for 14-15 year old minors

All hours below are enforced year-round, except from June 1 through Labor Day, which extends the permitted time of day from 7 AM to 9 PM. 

Daily hours:

• Eight hours on non-school days

• Three hours on school days

Weekly hours:

• 40 hours on non-school weeks

• 18 hours on school weeks

Permitted time of day after Labor Day through May 31 — 7 AM-7 PM

Permitted time of day June 1 through Labor Day — 7 AM-9 PM

Any minors aged 16 and 17 years of age who are employed after 11 PM must have at least eight hours of rest between the end of one shift and the beginning of another. For more detailed information, see here.

Hiring
The Wisconsin Fair Employment Law strictly prohibits any discrimination against any qualified job applicant because of:

• Sex

• Race

• Disability

• Age

• Creed

• Color

• National origin

• Ancestry

• Sexual orientation

• Marital status

• Arrest and conviction record

• Military status

• Use of lawful products

• Genetic testing

Any use of honesty tests by employers are regulated by the Fair Employment Law.

Firing
Wisconsin is known as an at-will employment state, meaning either the employer or the employee can end the employment at any time, for any lawful reason. 

Under Wisconsin final paycheck law, employers must pay the terminated or resigned employee their final paycheck by the next scheduled payday or within 31 days, whichever comes sooner.