Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 104 - Minimum wage law.
104.035 - Minimum wage.

104.035 Minimum wage.
(1) Employees generally.
(a) Minimum rates. Except as provided in subs. (2) to (8), the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
(b) Allowances for meals and lodging. Except as provided in subs. (2) (b), (2m) (b), and (4) (b) and subject to sub. (3) (b), if an employer furnishes an employee with meals or lodging in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under s. 104.045 (2), the employer may deduct the following amounts from the wages of the employee:
1. For lodging, $58 per week or $8.30 per day.
2. For meals, $87 per week or $4.15 per meal.
(2) Minor employees.
(a) Minimum rates. Except as provided in subs. (2m) to (8), the minimum wage for a minor employee is $7.25 per hour.
(b) Allowances for meals and lodging. Except as provided in subs. (2m) (b) and (4) (b) and subject to sub. (3) (b), if an employer furnishes a minor employee with meals or lodging in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under s. 104.045 (2), the employer may deduct the following amounts from the wages of the employee:
1. For lodging, $58 per week or $8.30 per day.
2. For meals, $87 per week or $4.15 per meal.
(2m) Opportunity employees.
(a) Minimum rates. Except as provided in subs. (3) to (8), the minimum wage for an opportunity employee is $5.90 per hour.
(b) Allowances for meals and lodging. Except as provided in sub. (4) (b) and subject to sub. (3) (b), if an employer furnishes an opportunity employee with meals or lodging in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under s. 104.045 (2), the employer may deduct the following amounts from the wages of the employee:
1. For lodging, $47.20 per week or $6.75 per day.
2. For meals, $70.80 per week or $3.35 per meal.
(3) Tipped employees.
(a) Minimum rates. Except as provided in subs. (4) to (8), if an employer of a tipped employee establishes by the employer's payroll records that, when adding the tips received by the tipped employee in a week to the wages paid to the tipped employee in that week, the tipped employee receives not less than the applicable minimum wage specified in sub. (1), (2), or (2m), the minimum wage for the tipped employee is as follows:
1. For wages earned by a tipped employee who is not an opportunity employee, $2.33 per hour.
2. For wages earned by a tipped employee who is an opportunity employee, $2.13 per hour.
(b) Allowances for meals and lodging. If an employer furnishes a tipped employee with meals or lodging in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under s. 104.045 (2), the employer may deduct the applicable amounts specified in sub. (1) (b), (2) (b), or (2m) (b) from the wages of the tipped employee.
(4) Agricultural employees.
(a) Minimum rates. Except as provided in subs. (7) and (8), the minimum wage for an agricultural employee is $7.25 per hour.
(b) Allowances for meals and lodging. If an employer furnishes an agricultural employee with meals or lodging in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under s. 104.045 (2), the employer may deduct the following amounts from the wages of the employee:
1. For lodging, $58 per week or $8.30 per day.
2. For meals, $87 per week or $4.15 per meal.
(5) Camp counselors. The minimum wage for a counselor at a seasonal recreational or educational camp, including a day camp, is $350 per week if meals and lodging are not furnished, $265 per week if only meals are furnished, and $210 per week if both meals and lodging are furnished.
(6) Golf caddies. The minimum wage for a golf caddy is $10.50 for caddying 18 holes and $5.90 for caddying 9 holes.
(7) Minimum wage established by department. The department shall promulgate rules providing the minimum wage for all of the following:
(a) An employee or worker with a disability covered under a license under s. 104.07.
(b) A student learner.
(c) A student employed by an independent college or university for less than 20 hours per week.
(8) Employment exempted by department. The department shall promulgate rules exempting from the minimum wage requirements under subs. (1) to (7) all of the following:
(a) A person engaged in casual employment in and around an employer's home on an irregular or intermittent basis for not more than 15 hours per week.
(b) A person who resides in the home of an employer who, due to advanced age or physical or mental disability, cannot care for his or her own needs, for the purpose of companionship and who spends not more than 15 hours per week on general household work for the employer.
(c) An elementary or secondary school student performing student work-like activities in the student's school.
(9) Gender-specific minimum wage prohibited. The department may not establish a different minimum wage for men and women.
History: 2015 a. 55 ss. 3078h, 3078i.
Under regulations promulgated under s. 104.045 (1), an employer taking a tip credit must have a tip declaration signed by the tipped employee each pay period to show that, when adding the tips received to the wages paid by the employer, no less than the minimum rate was received by the employee. When the employer's time and payroll records do not contain these requirements, no tip credit is allowed, and a plaintiff may pursue back wages under s. 109.03 (5) for alleged violations of such regulations. Hussein v. Jun-Yan, LLC, 502 F. Supp. 3d 1366 (2020).