Federal & State Regulations | Unemployment - Wisconsin

Summary of differences between federal and state regulations

Coverage

In Wisconsin, workers are considered employees according to a test of statutory factors. Direction and control and independent business tests are used for governmental and non-profit entities, loggers, and truckers.

The laws of most states permit employers to elect coverage of workers who perform their services entirely outside the state if they are not covered by any other state or federal UI law. For most of the states permitting such elections, residence is required in the state of election, but this is not the case in Wisconsin.

Exclusions from the definition of employment include:

Insurance agents on commission,
Real estate agents on commission, and
Part-time service for nonprofit organizations exempt from federal income tax.

The following student employment is excluded from coverage:

Student nurses and interns in employ of a hospital, and
Students working for schools.

Under rules for officers of corporations in Wisconsin, the amount of base period wages used to compute total benefits payable to an individual may not exceed 10 times the individual's weekly benefit amount based on the individual's employment with a corporation or a limited liability company if one-half or more of the ownership interest in the corporation or limited liability company is or during the employment was owned or controlled by the individual's spouse or child, or by the individual's parent if the individual is under age 18, or by a combination of 2 or more of them; or a corporation, if one-fourth or more of the ownership interest in the corporation is or during the employment was owned or controlled by the individual. Also, a corporate employer having taxable payrolls of $400,000 or less may elect not to have the principal officers covered if the officers have a direct or indirect substantial ownership interest in the corporation.