Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 103.02 (2026)
Hours of labor
✓ current as of July 2026
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103.02103.02 Hours of labor. No person may be employed or be permitted to work in any place of employment or at any employment for such period of time during any day, night or week, as is dangerous or prejudicial to the person’s life, health, safety or welfare. The department shall investigate, ascertain, determine and fix such reasonable classification, and promulgate rules fixing a period of time, or hours of beginning and ending work during any day, night or week, which shall be necessary to protect the life, health, safety or welfare of any person, or to carry out the purposes of ss. 103.01 to 103.03. The department shall, by rule, classify such periods of time into periods to be paid for at regular rates and periods to be paid for at the rate of at least one and one-half times the regular rates. Such investigations, classifications and orders shall be made as provided in s. 103.005 and the penalties under s. 103.005 (12) shall apply to and be imposed for any violation of ss. 103.01 to 103.03. Such orders shall be subject to review in the manner provided in ch. 227. Section 111.322 (2m) applies to discharge or other discriminatory acts arising in connection with any proceeding under this section.
103.02 AnnotationThis chapter does not provide the exclusive remedy for enforcement of claims under this section. Claims may be enforced by a private action brought under s. 109.03 (5). German v. DOT, 223 Wis. 2d 525, 589 N.W.2d 651 (Ct. App. 1998), 98-0250.
103.02 AnnotationAffirmed. 2000 WI 62, 235 Wis. 2d 576, 612 N.W.2d 50, 98-0250.
103.02 AnnotationA violation of the public policy expressed by this section is grounds for a wrongful discharge action. Wilcox v. Niagra of Wisconsin Paper Corp., 965 F.2d 355 (1992).
103.02 AnnotationWisconsin requires time spent donning and doffing safety gear to be compensated at the minimum wage or higher, and that this time counts toward the limit after which the overtime rate kicks in. Wisconsin law is not preempted by federal law. Spoerle v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., 614 F.3d 427 (2010).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32
cases (14 in the last 5 years), 1985–2026 · leading case: German v. Wisconsin Dep't of Transp., 2000 WI 62 (Wis. 2000).
German v. Wisconsin Dep't of Transp., 2000 WI 62 (Wis. 2000). “01(3), a rule promulgated by the authority vested in the DWD under the hours and overtime law, Wis. Stat. § 103.02 , or whether this administrative code section can only be enforced by the administrative review procedures in Wis.”
German v. Wisconsin Dep't of Transp., 589 N.W.2d 651 (Wis. Ct. App. 1998). “The hours and overtime law, in § 103.02, Stats., requires DWD to promulgate rules regarding what periods of an employee's time should be compensated, and which of those periods should be compensated at overtime rates.”
Spoerle v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., 527 F. Supp. 2d 860 (W.D. Wis. 2007). “03 ; (2) failure to pay over time, as required by Wis. Stat. § 103.02 ; and (3) failure to keep adequate records, as required by Wis.”
Spoerle v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., 626 F. Supp. 2d 913 (W.D. Wis. 2009). “The state law provisions at issue in this case, Wis. Stat. §§ 103.02 and 109.03 (and the implementing regulations in Wis.”
Weissman v. Tyson Prepared Foods, Inc., 2013 WI App 109 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013). “" Wis. Stat. § 103.02 . ¶ 7. Wisconsin Admin.”
Arndt v. Wisconsin Dep't of Corr., 972 F. Supp. 475 (W.D. Wis. 1996). “Wis.Stat. § 103.02. It does not allow an employee to bring a private cause of action against an employer even in state court.”
Christopher Kieninger v. Crown Equip. Corp., 924 N.W.2d 172 (Wis. 2019). “2009), and; (2) violation of Wisconsin overtime compensation law under Wis Stat. §§ 103.02, 109.03 and Wis. Admin.”
Kuhnert v. Advanced Laser Machining, Inc., 2011 WI App 23 (Wis. 2011). “See Wis. Stat. § 103.02 . Second, pursuant to that authority and using its specialized knowledge, the department enacted administrative code provisions related to overtime pay and issued a publication clarifying how overtime pay should be calculated for salaried employees.”
Black v. City of Milwaukee, 2015 WI App 60 (Wis. Ct. App. 2015). “15 ; prohibiting employers from mandating unsafe working hours, see Wis. Stat. § 103.02 ; prohibiting "honesty" testing as a condition of employment, see Wis.”
Mauricio Aguilar v. Husco Int'l, Inc., 2015 WI 36 (Wis. 2015). “" Miller Brewing, 210 Wis. 2d at 39 . There is therefore no requirement that federal law govern our analysis.”
Paczkowski v. My Choice Fam. Care, Inc., 384 F. Supp. 3d 991 (W.D. Wis. 2019). “Wis. Stat. § 103.02 . Accordingly, the agency's interpretation of its own rules is entitled to considerable weight, provided the interpretation is consistent with the language of the regulation and is not clearly erroneous.”
Mueller v. Thompson, 133 F.3d 1063 (7th Cir. 1998). “Wis. Stat. § 103.02 . Pursuant to this delegation, the department has adopted the FLSA and regulations under it relating to state and local employees to be the law of Wisconsin regarding overtime pay.”
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