While technology allows employees to work virtually anywhere, the extent of Wisconsin employment laws remains unclear. Such cases could be analyzed in a few ways.
Aug. 20, 2025 – What once could be a commute from Duluth to Superior, Dubuque to Platteville, or Lake County to Kenosha may now be work from home for a Wisconsin employer.
If an employee feels wronged by an employer, and Wisconsin law offers better results, does it apply to the remote worker physically working outside of Wisconsin?
The answer now may be, “maybe.”
While such disputes are likely developing, no Wisconsin appellate cases have addressed whether Wisconsin law applies to out-of-state remote workers connected to their Wisconsin employer primarily by Zoom or Teams.
Federal district court decisions say state law could apply but without citing Wisconsin case law as support.
Even before the pandemic, the issue generated an American Law Reports annotation that cites no Wisconsin cases – and the recommended Westlaw search to update the annotation for Wisconsin leads only to a federal district court case.[1]
Two cases in other states recently addressed the question. Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA Inc., raised a discrimination claim under Minnesota law and Dubois v. Staples Inc., sought recovery under the Massachusetts Wage Act for work done in Rhode Island.
The cases part ways, but so do their facts.
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