The WERC’s authority is limited to specific Wisconsin statutes and the Commission is not allowed to exercise authority that has been granted by law to a different agency.

Employment-related disputes that must be directed someplace other than the WERC:

If you have questions about your employment rights and benefits, useful initial resources to contact include: your employer’s personnel or human resources office; and, if you are represented by a union where you work, your union steward or business agent.  If you have remaining questions, the following list may be helpful.

If you have questions about the labor standards issues listed here or about your rights under the Wisconsin or US Family Medical Leave laws, please contact the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Equal Rights Division or the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

If you are concerned about work-related safety and health, please contact www.osha.gov.

If you believe you’ve been discriminated against because of race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, national origin, sexual orientation or other prohibited bases listed here, please contact the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Equal Rights Division.

For questions about Social Security benefits, please contact www.ssa.gov.

The National Labor Relations Board protects the collective bargaining rights of most private sector employees.  The Federal Labor Relations Authority protects the collective bargaining rights of federal employees, while the National Mediation Board does the same for railway and airline employees.

The WERC does not enforce laws relating to unemployment benefits or workers’ compensation. For assistance with those matters please contact the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Workers’ Compensation Division, or its Unemployment Insurance Division, respectively.

If you need assistance in identifying a private attorney familiar with employment law, you may wish to contact the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Lawyer Referral Service.

If you have a question not on this list, contact us by e-mail at werc@werc.state.wi.us
or call (608) 243-2424 to speak with a member of our staff.