MERRILL, WI (WSAU) — A former Semco worker is filing a state complaint, saying the company broke the law.
The Wausau Daily Herald is reporting that 62-year-old Patrick Woeller has filed a complaint with the state Department of Workforce Development about the closure of Semco at the end of 2019. Woeller’s claim states the company violated Wisconsin’s Business Closing and Mass Layoff Law.
The law requires companies with 50 employees or more to provide 60 days’ notice when closing or laying off a large number of people. Semco’s closing laid off around 140 workers on December 31st. Workers only had about a day’s notice of the closing according to Burt Johnson, general counsel for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters union.
The complaint, that was received by the state on February 5th, is seeking damages for the laid-off workers. Those damages would include up to 60 days of pay and benefits, along with accrued and unused vacation time being sought by the union.
With the filing of the complaint, an investigator with the Department of Workforce Development will begin working on the case, contacting the employer and contacting impacted workers. The investigator will determine if the Semco closure meets the definition of the law.
If the closure fits the law, the investigators will figure out the amount of wages the company owes its former employees. The employer can then either pay the wages voluntarily to end the case. But if the employer is unwilling or unable to pay the wages, the case is referred to the Wisconsin DOJ to enforce the ruling.
The initial investigation into the complaint should be completed within 180 days of the complaint being filed.
