The various types of labor relations dispute resolution services provided by WERC are outlined below with information about how to obtain each type of service. Filing fees apply to all of the listed services except declaratory ruling disputes, union security cases and certain representation cases. Besides dispute resolution services, WERC attempts to prevent disputes from arising in the first place by offering labor-management cooperation services.
WERC labor relations dispute resolution services are those provided for in the three statutes that WERC administers and the related administrative rules. The Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA) covers municipal employment relationships. The State Employment Labor Relations Act (SELRA) covers the State of Wisconsin and its relationships with certain categories of its employes. The Wisconsin Employment Peace Act (WEPA) covers private sector employers and their relationships with their employes, except to the extent that some WEPA provisions are pre-empted by federal law.
Adjudication of Statutory Labor Relations Disputes
Links to digests, lists and full-text searchable archives of WERC decisions regarding various types of statutory labor relations disputes are available elsewhere on this site.
Complaint Case Adjudication Each of the three statutes defines practices that are unlawful. MERA refers to such practices as prohibited practices; SELRA and WEPA refer to them as unfair labor practices. Each statute authorizes WERC to adjudicate complaints filed by a party such as an employe, an employer or labor organization asserting that another party has committed one or more of the unlawful practices. WERC is also authorized to order a remedy for violations found to have been committed. Remedies can include cease-and-desist, reinstatement, back pay, interest, and/or the restoration of previously existing conditions, but attorneys fees are ordinarily not available.
WERC ordinarily delegates the responsibility for conducting the administrative hearing to a member of its mediator/attorney staff. The designated hearing examiner issues a written decision that is subject to review by the Commission and appeal to the Courts. Complaint cases are initiated by the filing of a complaint by the aggrieved party.
View Complaint Process Booklet. View Hearing Examiner Manual. Complaints ordinarily must be filed within one year of the complained of conduct.
Representation and Union Security Case Adjudication Each of the three statutes also authorizes WERC to conduct secret-ballot representation and union security elections and to conduct hearings to resolve disputes about bargaining unit composition, employe status and eligibility to vote, and other issues. WERC is also responsible for resolving unit clarification disputes that arise concerning whether particular positions are properly to be included in or excluded from an existing bargaining unit.
WERC ordinarily delegates the responsibility for conducting such hearings to a member of its staff, but WERC ordinarily issues the initial decision in the matter itself, based on recommendations prepared by the staff hearing examiner assigned to the case.
Representation election and unit clarification cases are initiated by the filing of a petition. Petitions for elections among represented employees must be filed within certain limited time periods and, in some cases, additional requirements must be met for an election to be conducted.
View Forms.
View MERA Representation Case Guide.
View Hearing Examiner Manual.
If the WERC’s decision directs that a secret ballot vote be taken, Commission personnel arrange and conduct the vote either at or near the employer’s premises involved or by mail or telephonic ballot.
View Election Conduct Manual
For municipal and state employees other than transit and public safety, initial and mandatory annual certification elections and representation elections require a standard of 51% of eligibles voting in favor of representation.
Declaratory Ruling Case Adjudication As an administrative agency within the meaning of Chapter 227 of the Statutes, the WERC is authorized by that Chapter to adjudicate and decide disputes concerning the meaning and application of each of the three statutes it administers.
When petitions for declaratory rulings are filed under that general Chapter 227 procedure, the law gives the agency discretion whether or not to hear and decide the question(s) presented. However, MERA Sec. 111.70(4)(b), Stats., requires the WERC to hear and decide questions raised in petitions for declaratory rulings concerning the scope of collective bargaining, that is, whether particular bargaining proposals are mandatory or non-mandatory subjects of bargaining.*
The WERC ordinarily delegates the responsibility for conducting declaratory ruling hearings to the WERC General Counsel, but the WERC ordinarily issues the initial declaratory ruling itself, after considering a draft decision prepared by the General Counsel. Declaratory ruling cases are initiated by the filing of a petition by an interested party. The form for a Sec. 111.70(4)(b), Stats., petition is described in detail in Commission Rule ERC 18.02, WIS. ADM. CODE. View Rules.