The Fair Employment Practices Division was created by the Industrial Commission in 1945 to administer Wisconsin's fair employment law enacted in that year. The Fair Employment Practices Act (Sec. 111.31-111.37 Wis. Statutes) provides that it is unlawful and subject to penalty to discriminate because of age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, and ancestry. The Act authorized the Industrial Commission to receive and investigate complaints charging discrimination or discriminatory practices and give publicity to its findings with respect thereto. The Commission and its duly authorized agents were empowered to hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, and take testimony. If the Industrial Commission found probable cause to believe that any discrimination had been committed it was authorized to immediately endeavor to eliminate the practice by conference, conciliation, and persuasion. In case of failure so to eliminate the discrimination, the Commission was to hold hearings, make written findings, and recommend such action as would effectuate the purposes of the Act. The Commission had authority to issue enforceable orders. The Commission had authority to also make, amend, and rescind such rules and regulations as were necessary to carry out the Act. Findings and orders of the Commission were subject to review under Chapter 227.
During the early 1960s, the Fair Employment Practices Division concluded that the piecemeal method of working with individual complaints was producing minimal results. Consequently, it recommended to the Commission that a program of fact-finding hearings be initiated and be made an integral part of the Division's activities. The Commission approved the recommendation, and in August of 1963 the fact-finding program got underway with the first of three hearings in Milwaukee. From August 1963 through June 1964, additional hearings were held in Kenosha, Janesville-Beloit (combined hearings), Madison, and Racine. In the course of these hearings, 87 business and industrial firms, three labor organizations, and nine units of government presented testimony to the Commission.
In the conduct of the hearings, the Commission's intent was to gather information about the racial characteristics of the organizations' members and personnel and their hiring, work, and membership practices. The firms and other organizations invited to participate in these hearings were not suspected of discriminatory practices, but rather they represented a selected sample that could, in the Division's opinion, give an accurate impression of employment opportunities for minority groups in the area. The Commission then made several recommendations to testifying organizations including the following:
- That a policy statement regarding merit employment be drafted and distributed;
- That the organizations take aggressive action to make known their willingness to hire qualified minority group members;
- That the term “An equal opportunity employer” be used in help wanted advertisements;
- That agencies hiring under civil service rules be more specific in their written report regarding the “not hired” reasoning; and
- That non-discriminatory clauses be included in all union contracts.
The Division also administered the Non-Discriminatory Contracts Law (Sec. 16.765 Wis. Statutes) enacted by the 1959 session of the Legislature. It required all contracting agencies of the state to include in all contracts executed by them a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, or national origin.
An interchange of ideas and information with other organizations interested in the same goals as the Fair Employment Practices Division was always a vital part of the Division's work. It enjoyed close cooperation with such organizations as the Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the League of Women Voters, and many others. The Division also encouraged organizations and councils specifically set up to work in the area of fair employment practices.
Another activity of the Division was gaining the understanding and support of the general public. Staff members and Commissioners presented talks to commercial, educational, and civic groups and they participated in television and radio programs. News releases on the Division's work were issued and informational literature was prepared and distributed to a wide variety of groups and individuals.
In 1965, the Division's name was changed to the Equal Opportunities Division and it was assigned administration of the newly passed fair housing law (Sec. 101.60 Wis. Statutes). The 1967 Reorganization Act re-named the Industrial Commission the Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations and transferred to it the Governor's Commission on Human Rights, with which the Division had worked closely since its inception. The Governor's Commission became the Equal Rights Division of the Department, under which was consolidated the functions of the Equal Opportunities Division. Under 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, the Division was transferred to the newly created Department of Workforce Development effective July 1, 1996.
See each Agency's History in the catalog:
