Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Corrections
Chapter DOC 309 - Resources For Inmates
Section DOC 309.55 - Compensation

Universal Citation: WI Admin Code § DOC 309.55

Current through February 24, 2025

(1) PURPOSES AND APPLICABILITY.

(a) Except as provided under sub. (7), this section shall govern compensation for inmates participating in approved work and program assignments while confined in a correctional institution. This section does not apply to corrections industries or the prison farms. Inmates participating in work and program assignments are not employees of the state

(b) The purposes of this section are:
1. To provide uniform and fair compensation standards to encourage and reinforce positive inmate behavior;

2. To enable inmates to make purchases from the canteen and accumulate funds to assist them upon their release;

3. To encourage inmates to complete their assignments successfully;

4. To promote institutional order by providing inmates with an incentive for good behavior; and

5. To encourage inmates to develop skills that will be useful in helping them to become reintegrated into the community upon release.

(2) DEFINITIONS. In this subsection:

(a) "Full performance level" means the maximum level of performance expected on a work assignment or program assignment other than school or vocational training in terms of skills exhibited, output achieved, responsibility, diligence and effort shown, and level of supervision required.

(b) "Program assignment" means a placement in a school, vocational training or other program to which the inmate has been assigned by a program review committee in accordance with ch. DOC 302.

(c) "Range" means the ranking established by an institution for a work assignment or for a program assignment other than school or vocational training, based on the skill and responsibility required for the assignment.

(3) ELIGIBILITY. Except as provided under sub. (7), only inmates participating in approved work and program assignments while confined in a correctional institution shall be compensated.

(4) EXCEPTIONS. No compensation may be paid under this section to an inmate who:

(a) Participates in a work release program approved under ch. DOC 324, unless the inmate participates in a work or program assignment in a correctional institution in addition to the work release program;

(b) Participates in a work or program assignment while assigned to the assessment and evaluation program at Dodge correctional institution;

(c) Refuses any work or program assignment;

(d) Is voluntarily unassigned; or

(e) Is placed in one of the following segregated statuses:
1. Voluntary confinement under s. DOC 306.05, unless the inmate requested placement in this status upon the recommendation or approval of the security director for the purpose of ensuring the inmate's personal safety and the inmate was receiving pay immediately prior to placement in voluntary confinement;

2. Administrative confinement under ch. DOC 308, if the inmate was not receiving pay immediately prior to that placement and is not participating in an approved work or program assignment while in administrative confinement;

3. Observation under ch. DOC 311, if the inmate was not receiving pay immediately prior to that placement and is not participating in an approved work or program assignment while in observation status;

4. Disciplinary separation under s. DOC 303.73.

5. Controlled separation under s. DOC 303.74.

(5) WORK ASSIGNMENT PAY PLAN.

(a) Each institution shall rank its work assignments on a scale of one to 5 based on the level of skill and responsibility required by each assignment. Range 5 shall include work assignments requiring the most skill and responsibility and range one shall include work assignments requiring the least. The department shall ensure that the ranking of comparable work assignments within an institution is consistent. The range of the work assignment shall determine the pay rate for the full performance level of the work assignment.

(b) The number of work assignments an institution may have in each range may vary to meet institutional needs, but an institution may not exceed the total allocation of work assignment funds made available to it on the basis of the percentages in Table 309.55.

Table DOC 309.55

Basis For Allocating Work Assignment Funds To An Institution

Range

Percentage of Funds

Range 5

5%

Range 4

20%

Range 3

20%

Range 2

30%

Range 1

20%

Special categories listed under sub. (7)

5%

(c) Compensation for inmates in work assignments shall be computed on an hourly basis. The department shall determine an hourly pay rate for the full performance level of each range. The hourly pay rate for work assignments requiring more skill and greater responsibility shall be higher than the hourly pay rate for work assignments requiring less skill and responsibility.

(d) The department shall set hourly pay rates for weekend and legal holiday work which are higher than the full performance level pay rates determined under par. (c).

(e) Institutions may vary compensation rates for inmates working in comparable work assignments at less than the full performance level based on individual work performance. If an inmate is compensated at less than the full performance level pay rate under this paragraph, the inmate's supervisor shall evaluate the inmate's performance in writing at least once a month until the inmate is paid at the full performance level pay rate. The criteria to be used in evaluating the inmate's work performance include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Attitude toward fellow employees and staff;

2. Initiative and ability to perform assignments with minimal supervision;

3. Punctuality and attendance;

4. Quality of performance of assigned duties;

5. Diligence in applying one's self to an assignment and willingness to acquire and apply job skills;

6. Conduct as it relates to the job assignment; and

7. Improvement.

(f) Each institution may establish a probationary period, not to exceed 6 months, during which an inmate may be compensated at a lower rate of pay than the full performance rate for the work assignment. The pay rate may not be lower than the pay rate 2 ranges below the full performance level of the work assignment.

(g) In exceptional circumstances, such as an inmate demonstrating a substantial improvement in effort shown or output achieved, the superintendent, upon the recommendation of the inmate's supervisor, may compensate an inmate working above the full performance level at a higher pay rate than the full performance rate for the work assignment.

(6) PROGRAM ASSIGNMENT PAY PLAN.

(a) The department shall establish a single uniform pay rate higher than the pay rate for range one of work assignments for all inmates whose primary program assignment is to a school or vocational training program and who are adequately performing their school or vocational training assignments. An inmate's supervisor shall periodically evaluate the performance of an inmate participating in a school or vocational training assignment. Criteria to be used in evaluating program performance include, but are not limited to, skills exhibited, output achieved, responsibility, diligence and effort shown, and level of supervision required. To the extent necessary because of the unique requirements of a school or vocational training assignment, the supervisor shall establish additional reasonable criteria consistent with the necessary skills and responsibilities of that assignment. An inmate who does not meet the established performance criteria for an adequate performance level shall be compensated using the pay rate for a range one work assignment.

(b) Each institution shall rank and establish pay rates for the full performance level of program assignments other than school or vocational training. The department shall ensure that the ranking within an institution of comparable program assignments other than school or vocational training is consistent. An inmate's supervisor shall periodically evaluate the performance of an inmate participating in a program assignment. Institutions may vary compensation rates based on individual performance evaluations for inmates working at less than the full performance level in comparable program assignments other than school or vocational training.

(c) Each institution may establish a probationary period, not to exceed 6 months, during which an inmate may be compensated at a lower pay rate than the pay rate established for adequate performance of the school or vocational training assignment or full performance of the program assignment that is not school or vocational training. The probationary period pay rate may not be lower than 2 ranges below the adequate performance level of the school or vocational training assignment or the full performance level of the program assignment that is not school or vocational training.

(d) Compensation for inmates in program assignments shall be determined on a daily basis. For purposes of determining daily pay for inmates in program assignments:
1. Full-time vocational training and school programs are equivalent to 7 hours a day;

2. Full-time program assignments other than vocational training and school are equivalent to 8 hours a day;

3. Half-time programs are equivalent to 4 hours a day; and

4. Quarter-time programs and programs which are less than quarter time are equivalent to 2 hours a day.

(7) SPECIAL CATEGORIES.

(a) Unless otherwise specified in this section, the department shall establish a uniform compensation rate less than that for range one work assignments for inmates who are:
1. Involuntarily unassigned;

2. In sick cell status;

3. In hospital placement, including inmates transferred to mental health or medical facilities;

4. Unable to perform work assignments, such as elderly or disabled inmates, and not otherwise assigned under this section; or

5. In voluntary confinement status if that status was requested by the inmate upon the recommendation or approval of the security director for the inmate's personal safety and the inmate was receiving pay immediately prior to the placement in voluntary confinement.

(b) An inmate who is in sick cell status or hospital confinement as a result of injury sustained in a job-related accident shall be compensated at the rate he or she was earning in his or her previous status.

(8) STATUS CHANGES. An inmate in temporary lockup shall be compensated at the rate earned in his or her previous status. An inmate in administrative confinement or observation status and eligible for compensation under this section shall receive the rate earned in his or her previous status.

(9) LOCKDOWNS. An inmate who has a work or program assignment shall be compensated for the period of any lockdown required for search of an institution pursuant to ch. DOC 306, unless the lockdown is precipitated by the misconduct of any inmate, in which case, under s. DOC 306.14(2), only those inmates allowed to work to perform necessary housekeeping chores shall be compensated.

DOC 306.14 (2) was repealed eff. 8-1-01.

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