20.901 Departmental cooperation.

(1) Interchange of information and services.

(a) The state agencies shall cooperate in the performance and execution of state work and shall interchange such data, reports and other information, and, by proper arrangements between the state agencies directly interested, shall interchange such services of employees, or shall so jointly employ or make such assignments of employees as the best interests of the public service require. Except as authorized under par. (b), all interchanges of services and joint employments and assignments of employees for particular work shall be consistent with the qualifications and principal duties of such employees.

(b) Notwithstanding ss. 230.047 and 230.29, in the case of an emergency which is the result of natural or human causes, state agencies may cooperate to maintain required state services through the temporary interchange of employees. The interchange of employees may be of 2 types: where an appointing authority declares an emergency in writing to the governor; or where the governor or his or her designee declares an emergency. If an appointing authority declares an emergency, the interchange of employees is voluntary on the part of those employees designated by the sending state agency as available for interchange. If the governor or his or her designee declares an emergency, the governor may require a temporary interchange of employees. An emergency which is declared by an appointing authority may not exceed 72 hours unless an extension is approved by the governor or his or her designee. An employee who is assigned temporary interchange duties may be required to perform work which is not normally performed by the employee or described in his or her position classification. An interchange employee shall be paid at the rate of pay for the employee's permanent job unless otherwise authorized by the administrator of the division of personnel management in the department of administration. State agencies receiving employees on interchanges shall keep appropriate records and reimburse the sending state agencies for authorized salaries and expenses. The administrator of the division of personnel management in the department of administration may institute temporary pay administration policies as required to facilitate the handling of such declared emergencies.

(2) Employee powers and privileges. Whenever the employees of any state agency are assigned or required hereunder to perform services for any other state agency, such employees are vested with all powers and may enjoy all privileges necessary to perform the duties and execute the functions imposed upon and delegated to them and may perform such services and exercise such powers in the same manner, to the same extent and with like effect as though regularly appointed therefor.

(3) Records. Each state agency shall keep a record of all work done for or in cooperation with any other state agency under this section.

(4) Educational inter-system cooperation. The board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System and the technical college system board shall establish arrangements for joint use of facilities and joint staffing of programs operated by either system, in such ways as to make their educational and public services programs as fully and economically available to the citizens of the state as possible. Such arrangements may include, but are not limited to, inter-system rental agreements, contracts for services provided by one system in support of programs of the other system, joint management of facilities and programs at specific locations, joint enrollment of students and joint employment of staff.

History: 1973 c. 90; 1977 c. 418; 1983 a. 27; 1993 a. 399; 2003 a. 33 ss. 691, 9160; 2015 a. 55.