Living Wage Information

Background

Section 25.015 of the Dane County Ordinances requires that persons who are employed by the County, employed directly in work performed as a result of a service contract with the County or employed by an employer who is the beneficiary of economic development assistance from the County be paid no less than a specified hourly wage known as the living wage.

Living Wage Information

The living wage means an hourly wage equal to 100% of the poverty level divided by 2080. The poverty level changes annually and means an annual income equal to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services then most recently published poverty guidelines for a family of four.

Living Wage Rates
2009	$10.19
2008	$9.93
2007	$9.62
2006	$9.31
2005	$9.07
2004	$8.85
2003	$8.70
2002	$8.49
2001	$8.20
2000	$8.03

The living wage took effect as of January 1, 1999 for human services department purchase-of-service providers covered by this ordinance. For all other service contracts, the living wage took effect on January 1, 2000.

Hourly Wage

The ordinance mandates that employers pay their affected employees at least the hourly living wage listed above for every hour worked on the County contract, subject to the rules set forth in the ordinance. If an employee is performing both county and non-county work and it is not possible to separately account for the time associated with the work under the county contract, the employee shall receive the full living wage. Under certain circumstances this requirement can be waived prior to a bid solicitation, and the employer can pay the living wage using a proportional formula.

"Employee" means any person who is employed either by the County or a Contractor, including part-time and temporary employees.

"Affected employee" means any person who is directly involved in providing a contracted service.

"Wages" mean the amount gross salary paid to an employees as compensation for labor performed, and does not include benefits or commission. This term does not include any amount paid to an employee not directly related to the labor performed, such as for parking, uniforms, and contributions to retirements plans. Employees who receive tips, commissions or other compensation of more than an hourly wage shall be paid an hourly wage which, when coupled with the other compensation, will at least equal the living wage for each pay period where an employee is directly involved in the service contract.

The living wage requirements do not apply to time an employee spends in employer-authorized "sleep time" at the work site.

Adjustments to Hourly Rate

The hourly rates paid to employees shall be adjusted upward yearly using the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines for a family of four. The County will publish this information by October of the proceeding year. This applies to employees performing a direct function under a covered contract and multiple year contracts. Employers are responsible for building in the annual costs of the living wage into their contract bids.

More information

• Contracts Affected by the Living Wage Ordinance
• Exemptions from the Living Wage Ordinance
• Subcontractors are covered by the ordinance
• Disabled workers may be exempt
• Non-profit Organizations may be covered by the ordinance
• Volunteers are exempt
• Temporary On-call Employees
• Multiple year contracts
• Multiple Contracts with One Vendor
• Notifying Affected Employees
• Documentation / Recordkeeping
• Reporting Non-Compliance
• Penalties for non-compliance
• Proportionate Living Wage Determination

2009 Documents

	Living Wage Poster (2009) Updated October 1st, 2008
	Living Wage Certification for Sole Proprieterships (2009) Updated October 1st, 2008
	Living Wage Certification for Corporations (2009) Updated October 1st, 2008

2008 Documents

	Living Wage Poster (2008) Updated September 10, 2007
	Living Wage Certification for Sole Proprieterships (2008) Updated September 10, 2007
	Living Wage Certification for Corporations (2008)) Updated September 10, 2007

Living wage related documents are available in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word file formats. Adobe Acrobat files can be viewed with the freely-available Adobe Acrobat Reader. Microsoft also provides a free Word viewer from their website.

Dane County Purchasing Division
City-County Building, Room 425
210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Madison, WI 53703-3345
(608) 266-4131 Phone
(608) 266-4425 Fax
purchasing@co.dane.wi.us