Law & Legislation – Southwest Wisconsin Library System

Wisconsin Library Law & Legislation

Wisconsin Library Law – Contains the text (PDF) of Chapter 43, which governs public libraries in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Open Meetings Law – A compliance guide written by the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office.
Wisconsin Public Records Law – An FAQ written by the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning provides a Wisconsin Public Records Law FAQ .
Legislative Status Report – This site, maintained by the Wisconsin Library Association, tracks legislation affecting libraries in Wisconsin. It is regularly updated.

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) – The Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning provides an FAQ on CIPA.
Patriot Act – The American Library Association has a variety of information on complying with the Patriot Act and how the law affects libraries and their patrons. A sample patron privacy flyer communicates library privacy policies to users.

Library managers should be familiar with a wide variety of state and federal employment laws.

A portion of the ADA requires employers to provide equal opportunity to persons with disabilities.

An extensive list of resources to help comply with ADA. A “Best Practices Toolkit” is available for state and local governments. The Tool Kit is designed to teach state and local government officials how to identify and fix problems that prevent people with disabilities from gaining equal access to state and local government programs, services, and activities.
Great Lakes Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center
The website for the federally funded Disability and Technical Assistance Center serving Wisconsin. Offers a wealth of resources for all aspects of the ADA, including Title I, which covers employment. Staff of the center can also provide assistance via email, US mail and telephone.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits.

Establishes minimum wage, overtime pay and child labor standards. Certain employees may be exempt from the law. Visit the US Department of Labor for basic information on FLSA.

This law requires employers to grant up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to employees under certain conditions found in the links below. Because the state and federal laws differ, care should be taken to learn about both. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – The US Department of Labor website provides an overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Federal law permits states to pass laws providing more generous family and medical leave requirements to employees.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development explains the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act and links to several good sources of information including this comparison between Wisconsin and federal Family Medical Leave Act requirements.
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development – Provides basic information on Wisconsin FMLA, including a list of references to help answer questions for employers and employees.
A list of laws administered by DWD, including links to brief information on each law.

Search theses sites for the Representatives of your area: