Wisconsin Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for Wisconsin sole proprietors, LLC members, and corporate officers. Send us your details and we’ll confirm whether you qualify and handle the filing.
When coverage is required in Wisconsin
Mandatory coverage is triggered by EITHER of two independent tests under Wis. Stat. 102.04: (1) Headcount test -- any employer that at any time employs 3 or more employees (full-time or part-time) for services performed in Wisconsin becomes subject to the Act on the day it employs the 3rd such employee; OR (2) Payroll test -- an employer with fewer than 3 employees is still subject if it has paid $500 or more in gross wages in any calendar quarter for services performed in Wisconsin. Farm/agricultural employers follow a different, higher headcount test: a farming operation becomes subject when it employs 6 or more employees on any 20 consecutive or nonconsecutive days during a calendar year (coverage required 10 days after the 20th such day); the standard $500-payroll test does not apply to farmers/farm labor. No separate construction-industry threshold was verified (see Construction field).
Who can be excluded in Wisconsin
Sole proprietors
Excluded from coverage by default -- a sole proprietor is not counted/covered as an 'employee' of their own business unless they affirmatively elect to be included under Wis. Stat. 102.075. Standard workers' comp policies exclude the sole proprietor unless specifically endorsed to include them. The sole proprietor's actual W-2 employees ARE covered/counted normally.
Partners
Same default-exclusion regime as sole proprietors: a partner is only treated as an 'employee' if they elect coverage under Wis. Stat. 102.075; partnership members are not counted toward the employer's headcount for Wis. Stat. 102.04 purposes except a partner who has elected in.
LLC members
Same default-exclusion regime: an LLC member is only an 'employee' if electing coverage under Wis. Stat. 102.075; members of an LLC are not counted as employees for the 102.04 headcount test except a member who has elected in.
Corporate officers
Unlike sole proprietors/partners/LLC members, corporate officers are INCLUDED as employees by default and normally must be covered. Wisconsin provides two distinct opt-out routes, both capped at 1-2 officers: (1) Corporate Officer Option Notice (Form WKC-7602-E) -- available only to a closely held corporation that has NO MORE than 2 corporate officers and NO OTHER employees; each officer must individually elect out, and if approved the corporation is not subject to the Act at all (no policy required). A corporation with more than 2 officers, or with any other employee, is NOT eligible to use this Notice route. (2) Policy-endorsement exclusion -- if the corporation has other employees or more than 2 officers, it may still exclude UP TO 2 named corporate officers from coverage via an endorsement on its workers' comp policy identifying those officer(s) by name; all other officers/employees must remain covered.
Construction rules in Wisconsin
No separate coverage threshold specific to building/construction trades was found in the sources reviewed for Wis. Stat. 102.04 -- the general 3-employee/$500-quarterly-payroll test appears to apply uniformly to construction employers as to other industries. Separately, Wis. Stat. 102.06 imposes joint-and-several liability between a general contractor and an uninsured subcontractor for workers' comp claims of the subcontractor's employees, which functions as a strong practical incentive for contractors to verify subcontractor coverage even though it is not itself a lower headcount trigger. This construction-specific nuance was not independently confirmed beyond the general contractor/subcontractor liability statute citation and should be treated as medium confidence pending direct confirmation from DWD.
How the exemption is filed
This is a default-exclusion / policy-endorsement regime for sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members (no state filing needed to be excluded; a policy endorsement is used if they want to elect IN under 102.075). For corporate officers -- who are included by default -- exclusion requires either the Corporate Officer Option Notice (WKC-7602-E, filed with DWD, for closely-held corps with only 1-2 officers and no other employees; the notice must be returned within 15 days) or a named-officer exclusion endorsement added to the existing workers' comp policy (for corporations with other employees, capped at 2 officers).
- Statute
- Wis. Stat. 102.04 (employer coverage thresholds, including the farm-specific 6-employee/20-day test), 102.07(15) and 102.075 (sole proprietor/partner/LLC member election), 102.06 (contractor/subcontractor joint liability)
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
Wisconsin is genuinely dual-threshold (headcount OR payroll), which is unusual and should be stated plainly rather than simplified to just a headcount number. It also runs an inverted default compared to most states for corporate officers specifically: sole proprietors/partners/LLC members are excluded by default (opt IN), while corporate officers are included by default (opt OUT, capped at 1-2 officers depending on route). The DWD wkc-13333-p.htm and wkc-7317.htm publication pages returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch during this research; the statutory text (102.04, 102.07) and the WKC-7602-E form description were sourced from search-engine-indexed excerpts of those DWD/legislative pages rather than a direct successful page fetch, so treat exact phrasing (not the substance) as slightly less certain and verify wording directly against docs.legis.wisconsin.gov before quoting statute text verbatim on the site.
Sources
- https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/102.04
- https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/102.07
- https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/publications/wc/wkc-13333-p.htm
- https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/forms/WKC/wkc-7602-e.htm
Source material dated undated (current Wisconsin Statutes ch. 102 and current DWD publications as accessed 2026-08-30). Compiled from official Wisconsin sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), Worker's Compensation Division or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in Wisconsin
Tell us about your Wisconsin business and we'll confirm whether you qualify for an exemption.