Does Wisconsin require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes, for almost any business with payroll. Under Wisconsin Statutes 102.04, a business is subject to the Worker's Compensation Act the day it employs 3 or more people, full- or part-time, or once it pays $500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter to even one or two employees. Farms trigger at 6 employees on 20 days a year. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members with no employees need no policy.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Wisconsin requires workers' comp?
Wisconsin Statutes 102.04(1)(b) sets two triggers. A business that employs 3 or more people for work in Wisconsin is covered the day the third person starts. A business with fewer than 3 is covered once it pays $500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter, and must be insured by the 10th day of the month after that quarter. Farms follow their own rule: 6 or more employees on any 20 days in a calendar year.
In practice the $500 rule reaches almost any payroll: $500 a quarter is under $40 a week. Per DWD, domestic servants in a private home are not employees under the Act unless the employer elects to cover them.
Source: Wis. Stat. 102.04, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Wisconsin?
The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) says sole proprietors, partnerships, and LLCs made up only of owners, with no employees, do not need a policy, and every policy excludes those owners unless it is endorsed to include them (Wis. Stat. 102.075). Corporate officers are different: they are employees of the corporation. A closely held corporation, 10 or fewer stockholders, can take up to two officers out of the Act (Wis. Stat. 102.076).
An independent contractor counts as the hiring business's employee unless they meet all nine conditions in Wis. Stat. 102.07(8)(b), among them a separate business with its own equipment, a federal EIN or prior business tax filings, and per-job or bid pay. A sub who fails one is covered under your policy.
An officer who opts out still counts toward the 3-employee threshold (Wis. Stat. 102.076(1)). For farms, DWD says certain relatives are not counted toward the 6-employee test.
Source: Wisconsin DWD, Sole Proprietors, Partners and LLC Members, checked .
What happens to a Wisconsin employer with no workers' comp?
For a first or second finding that an employer was uninsured, DWD assesses the greater of $750 or twice the premium the employer would have paid during the uninsured periods, over up to three years of payroll (Wis. Stat. 102.82). A third finding is the greater of $3,000 or three times that premium; a fourth or later, $4,000 or four times. A lapse of 7 days or less can instead cost $100 a day when the statute's conditions are met.
A court can add a separate forfeiture under Wis. Stat. 102.85, starting at the greater of $1,000 or the unpaid premium. DWD can also order the business to cease operations until it is insured (Wis. Stat. 102.28(4)).
Source: Wis. Stat. 102.82, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Wisconsin?
The Worker's Compensation Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development enforces the requirement. It investigates suspected uninsured employers, assesses the penalties above, and runs the Uninsured Employers Fund, which pays benefits to workers hurt while working for an illegally uninsured employer and then bills that employer back (Wis. Stat. 102.82(1)). An employer that will not cooperate can be presumed uninsured.
Source: Wisconsin DWD, Uninsured Employers Fund FAQs, checked .
Where do Wisconsin employers buy coverage?
Wisconsin is a private-market state with no state fund. DWD says the state does not write coverage and that about 300 insurers are licensed to write it; employers buy through an agent or an insurer. If no company will accept the application, the agent submits it to the WCRB, which administers the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Insurance Pool for employers the voluntary market turns down.
Source: Wisconsin DWD, How to Buy Worker's Compensation Insurance, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin is not an NCCI state. Wisconsin Statutes 626.06 continues the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau (WCRB) and makes every insurer writing workers' compensation in the state a member. Under 626.09 the bureau maintains Wisconsin's classifications, rates, and rating plans and files them with the Commissioner of Insurance, so class codes and experience mods come from WCRB.
Source: Wis. Stat. 626.06, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Wisconsin?
Only for small corporations. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members with no employees file nothing. A closely held corporation with no more than two officers and no other employees can skip a policy if its officers each file a Corporate Officer Option Notice (form WKC-7602-E) with DWD's Worker's Compensation Division. The election lasts until the officer rescinds it in writing (Wis. Stat. 102.076(2)).
A corporation that already has a policy excludes an officer by endorsement on that policy instead, for the policy period. An owner a hiring contractor asks for proof can buy coverage on themselves under Wis. Stat. 102.075; check what the contract actually requires.
Source: Wisconsin DWD, Corporations and Corporate Officers, checked .
Sorting out Wisconsin workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Wisconsin requirement in front of you says. We will say whether a policy, a waiver, or an exclusion fits.
This is general insurance information, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Statutes, agency instructions, policy forms, and the facts of the business control.
Workers’ comp requirements in every state
Each state page gives the employee threshold, the owner and officer exemptions, the penalty for going without, the rating bureau, the market, the enforcing agency, and the exemption filing, each with its statute or agency source.
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The hub, and the Wisconsin pages that go deeper
Wisconsin workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Wisconsin with only one or two employees?+
Usually yes. Under Wis. Stat. 102.04(1)(b), a business with fewer than 3 employees is covered once it pays $500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter, and needs a policy by the 10th day of the month after that quarter. With 3 employees, coverage is required the day the third one starts.
Can an LLC owner in Wisconsin skip workers' comp?+
Yes, if the LLC has no employees. Wis. Stat. 102.04(2) says LLC members are not counted as employees, and DWD says a members-only LLC is not required to carry a policy. A member can choose to be covered under Wis. Stat. 102.075 by adding themselves to a policy.
Are corporate officers exempt from workers' comp in Wisconsin?+
Not automatically. Officers are employees of the corporation. A corporation with 10 or fewer stockholders can exclude up to two officers, by endorsement on its policy or, if it has no other employees, by filing a Corporate Officer Option Notice with DWD (Wis. Stat. 102.076).
Does an out-of-state employer need Wisconsin coverage?+
Yes, if it has employees working in Wisconsin. DWD says the policy must be with an insurer licensed in Wisconsin and endorsed to name Wisconsin as a covered state in Section 3a. A policy that lists only the home state generally does not satisfy Wisconsin.