101.58 Employees' right to know.

(1) Short title. Sections 101.58 to 101.599 shall be known as the “Employees' Right to Know Law".

(2) Definitions. In ss. 101.58 to 101.599:

(a) “Agricultural employer" means any person, including the state and its political subdivisions, who engages the services of any employee to perform agricultural labor. If any employee is present at the workplace of an agricultural employer under an agreement between that agricultural employer and another agricultural employer or employer, “agricultural employer" means the agricultural employer with control or custody of a pesticide. An agricultural employer who engages some employees to perform agricultural labor and other employees for other purposes is only an agricultural employer with respect to the employees engaged to perform agricultural labor.

(b) “Agricultural labor" has the meaning provided in s. 108.02 (2).

(c) “Employee" means any person whose services are currently or were formerly engaged by an employer or an agricultural employer, or any applicant at the time an employer or agricultural employer offers to engage his or her services.

(d) “Employee representative" means an individual or organization to whom an employee gives written authorization to exercise his or her rights to request information under s. 101.583, 101.585 or 101.586, a parent of a minor employee or a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent.

(e) “Employer" means any person, except an agricultural employer, with control or custody of any employment or workplace who engages the services of any employee. “Employer" includes the state and its political subdivisions. If any employee is present at the workplace of an employer under an agreement between that employer and another employer or agricultural employer, “employer" means the employer with control or custody of a toxic substance or infectious agent. An employer who engages some employees to perform agricultural labor and other employees for other purposes is only considered an employer with respect to the employees engaged for other purposes.

(f) “Infectious agent" means a bacterial, mycoplasmal, fungal, parasitic or viral agent identified by the department by rule as causing illness in humans or human fetuses or both, which is introduced by an employer to be used, studied or produced in the workplace. “Infectious agent" does not include such an agent in or on the body of a person who is present in the workplace for diagnosis or treatment.

(g) “Legal holiday" has the meaning provided in s. 995.20.

(h) “Overexposure" means any chronic or acute exposure to a toxic substance or infectious agent which results in illness or injury.

(i) “Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances which is registered with the federal environmental protection agency under 7 USC 136 to 136y or the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection under ch. 94, and which is labeled, designed or intended to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pest or as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.

(j)

1. “Toxic substance" means any substance or mixture containing a substance regulated by the federal occupational safety and health administration under title 29 of the code of federal regulations part 1910, subpart z, which is introduced by an employer to be used, studied or produced in the workplace.

2. “Toxic substance" does not include:

a. Any article, including but not limited to an item of equipment or hardware, which contains a substance regulated by the federal occupational safety and health administration under title 29 of the code of federal regulations part 1910, subpart z, if the substance is present in a solid form which does not cause any acute or chronic health hazard as a result of being handled by an employee.

b. Any mixture containing a substance regulated under title 29 of the code of federal regulations part 1910, subpart z, if the substance is less than one percent, or, if the substance is an impurity, less than 2 percent, of the product.

c. Any consumer product packaged for distribution to and used by the general public, for which the employee's exposure during use is not significantly greater than the consumer's exposure occurring during the principal use of the product.

d. Any substance received by an employer in a sealed package and subsequently sold or transferred in that package, if the seal remains intact while the substance is in the employer's workplace.

e. Any waste material regulated under the federal resource conservation and recovery act, P.L. 94-580.

f. Lutefisk.

(k) “Workplace" means any location where an employee performs a work-related duty in the course of his or her employment, except a personal residence.

(3) Relationship to federal regulations.

(a) If the federal occupational safety and health administration promulgates a hazards communication regulation which, with respect to toxic substances, has requirements comparable to those in s. 101.583, 101.59 or 101.597 (1), and has time periods no less stringent than s. 101.589 and confidentiality requirements no less stringent than s. 101.592, an employer, manufacturer or supplier may apply to the department for an exemption from s. 101.583, 101.59 or 101.597 (1).

(b) An employer applying to the department for an exemption under par. (a) shall provide a copy of the application to appropriate certified collective bargaining agents and shall post a statement at the place where notices to employees are normally posted. The posted statement shall summarize the application, specify a place where employees may examine it and inform employees of their right to request a hearing on it.

(c) Upon receipt of a written request from an affected employer, manufacturer, supplier, employee or employee representative, the department shall hold a hearing on the application. If a hearing has been requested, the department is prohibited from approving the application until a hearing has been held. In no case may the department approve the application within less than 60 days after receiving it.

History: 1981 c. 364, 391; 1983 a. 189 s. 329 (28); 1983 a. 192 s. 304; 2005 a. 155.

Wisconsin's new “right to know" law. McCauley. WBB Jan. 1983.