WERC assigns case numbers once the fee (if any) and documents necessary to open the case have been received.
Prior to July, 2014, the docketing system used by WERC identified each case by the name of the employer involved (or by the name of the respondent involved in a case involving no employer); followed by the employer case number, the agency history number, and the case type number.
Example: City of Milwaukee (blue collar), Case 123, No. 54321, MP-1234. In this example, the employer involved is the City of Milwaukee. The information in the parenthetical, if any, specifies which bargaining unit or subdivision of City government is involved. The reference to “Case 123” means that this is the one hundred twenty-third case of any kind filed with WERC involving the employer, City of Milwaukee and any of its departments and bargaining units. The reference to “No. 54321” means that this is the fifty four thousand three hundred and twenty first case of any kind opened by WERC since the inception of the docket system. The “MP” designation means that this is a municipal sector complaint case, and the “1234” means that this is the one thousand two hundred thirty fourth case of that type filed with WERC.
After July, 2014, cases are assigned numbers by the employer name. Once the employer is assigned a CASE ID number, that number remains associated with the same employer, (e.g. the first Department of Corrections case file is 1.0000). Each subsequent filing with this employer gets a sub-number (e.g., 1.0001) assigned. The docketing system used by WERC identifies each case by the case ID number and the case type.
Example: Case ID: 251.0000 Case Type: COMP_MP. In this example, the Case ID: indicates 251 which is the City of Milwaukee. The Case Type indicates that this is a municipal employer complaint and it is the first case the commission has with this employer under the new docketing system.
Case Type Abbreviations
| WEPA (private sector) | MERA (municipal sector) | SELRA (state sector) | |
| Complaint (respondents include at least one employer) | COMP_CE | COMP_MP | COMP_PPS |
| Complaint (respondents include no employer) | COMP_CW | COMP_MP | COMP_PPS |
| Representation Election | E | E_ME | E_SE |
| Representation Unit Clarification | UC_E | UC_ME | UC_SE |
| Mediation (contract negotiation or grievance) | M | M_M | M_S |
| Impartial Hearing Officer (IHO) | IHO | IHO | IHO |
| Interest Arbitration-transit employes under Sec. 111.70(4)(cg)6, Stats. | INT_ARB | INT_ARB | |
| Interest Arbitration-police-fire under Sec. 111.77, Stats. | MIA | ||
| Interest Arbitration-City of Milwaukee Police under Sec. 111.70(4)(jm), Stats. | MP_IA | ||
| Fact-Finding-compellable, non-binding municipal police-fire under 2500 population | FF_M | ||
| Fact Finding – non-compellable, non-binding | FF_S | ||
| Grievance Arbitration by WERC-Employed Arbitrator | A | MA | SA |
| Declaratory Ruling | DR | DR_M | DR_S |
| Union Security Authorization Referendum | R | MR | SR |
| Union Security Deauthorization Referendum | R | MR | SR |
| Requests for lists of grievance arbitrators not employed by WERC are given a tracking number as follows: 1998 A/P 234. The “A/P” stands for arbitrator panel, and the numbers indicate the year in which the requested list was issued and the sequential number of panels issued in the calendar year to date. |