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These laws protect individuals who work in certain healthcare facilities and report various instances of abuse or law violations. There are five different statutes that may apply. The statute of limitations for filing a complaint under these laws is 300 days from the date the action was taken or the individual was made aware the action was taken.
What is the Health Care Worker Protection Law?
This law protects individuals who work for a health care facility or provider who report violations of a law or rule or violations of quality of care standards and poses a potential risk to public health or safety to the state, provider approver, director of the provider, or supervisor. The subject of the reporting is the patient or resident. The law also protects individuals who initiate, participate or testify in this type of proceeding or if the provider believes that the individual made a report covered under this law from retaliation, such as discharge or other form of discrimination.
The Elder Abuse Law provides protections to individuals who report abuse, financial exploitation, neglect or self-neglect of persons over 60 who are subject to the "infirmities of ageing" to the county department, elder-adult-at-risk agency, state or local law enforcement or Department or Board on Ageing and Long-Term Care from retaliation, such as discharge or other form of discrimination.
This law protects individuals who make reports or provide information regarding nursing homes, community-based residential facilities, hospices, adult family homes, swing bed in acute or extended care facilities regarding aged or disabled persons to any representative of the board on aging including the ombudsman, from retaliation, such as discharge or other form of discrimination.
This law protects individuals who contact, provide information, participate of testify regarding resident (short or long-term care) of nursing homes, community-based residential facilities, adult family homes, residential care apartment complexes or home health agencies to any state official from retaliation, such as discharge or other form of discrimination.
The subjects of these reports are adults that are at imminent risk of serious bodily harm, death, sexual assault, or significant property loss AND are unable to make an informed judgment about whether to report the risk -or- an adult-at-risk other than the subject of the report is at risk of serious bodily harm, death, sexual assault, or significant property loss inflicted by a suspected perpetrator. The person making the complaint must be an employee of any entity that is licensed, certified, or approved by or registered with the department, a health care provider as defined in sec. 155.01 or a social worker, professional counselor, or marriage and family therapist certified under chap. 457. The law protects individuals who make reports to a county department, adult-at-risk agency, state or local law enforcement agency, the department, the Board on Aging and Long-Term Care who experience retaliation, such as discharge or other form of discrimination.
DWD Contact Information
201 E. Washington Ave
P.O. Box 7946
Madison, WI 53707
(608) 266-3131
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