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The ES-202: Unemployment Insurance (UI) Covered Employment and Earnings

This publication of the Department of Employment summarizes employment and wage data of employers subject to the Wyoming Employment Security Law, (Wyoming Statutes 27-3-101 through 27-3-704) and Federal civilian workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program.

Data on Unemployment Insurance (UI) Covered Employment and Wages are compiled from Employer’s Quarterly Contributions Reports. These reports are supplemented by two reports, the Industry Verification Statement and the Multiple Worksite Report. Together, these three sources of data are referred to as the “ES-202” report.

Employment and wage data are classified according to the codes and titles published in the 1987 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual prepared by the Office of Statistical Standards, United States Bureau of the Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President. SIC’s provide for classification of establishments on the basis of their principal economic activity. The SIC classification system was developed for the purpose of promoting a uniform presentation of statistics by federal agencies, state governments, and private research organizations. A list of SIC titles is included here.

The SIC codes assigned to UI covered reporting units must be periodically reviewed and updated. This process is referred to as SIC Refiling or the Annual Refiling Survey (ARS). The ARS is conducted to verify or correct the industry, geographic, and ownership codes assigned to employers who are covered under Wyoming Unemployment Insurance Laws. Wyoming, along with all other states in the United States, reports the resulting industry and geographic code corrections to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the Code Change Supplement (CCS) file every year.

The Annual Refiling Survey (ARS) is also a primary source for collection of new worksite physical location address information for both single and multi-establishment employers.

The Industry Verification Statement is used as the primary means of identifying employers who have more than one worksite (establishment) with ten or more employees at each worksite. The Multiple Worksite Report is sent quarterly to multi employers, with two or more locations, to collect employment and wage data by worksite.

Nationally, the ES-202 report forms the backbone of such statistical series as Personal Income and Gross Domestic Product.

Data provided to the Department of Employment by employers are held in strict confidence and are used only for specified statistical purposes. To protect the identity of cooperating firms the agency withholds publication of UI covered employment and wage data for any industry level meeting the following criteria: (1) The industry consists of fewer than three reporting units; or (2) A single unit accounts for 80 percent or more of the industry’s employment.

The Department of Employment has designated five regions for administrative and Labor Market Information purposes. The “Northwest Region” includes Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie Counties. “Northeast Region” includes Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan, and Weston Counties. “Southwest Region” includes Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton and Uinta Counties. “Southeast Region” includes Albany, Goshen, Laramie, Niobrara, and Platte Counties. “Central Region” includes Carbon, Converse, and Natrona Counties.

Unemployment Insurance coverage under Wyoming Employment Security Law has been expanded twice in the past two decades. On January 1, 1972, coverage was extended to firms employing one or more workers, state institutions of higher learning (i.e. the University of Wyoming and seven junior colleges) and state hospitals. On January 1, 1978, coverage was extended to employees of state and local (city, county) governments, non-profit elementary and secondary schools, certain larger agricultural establishments, and certain domestic workers.

Wyoming law requires that employers provide coverage for employees if the firm: (1) has a payroll of $500 or more in a calendar year, or (2) acquires an organization, business, trade, or substantially all of the assets of an employer which is subject to the law at the time of the acquisition.

The classes of employment exempt from coverage under the Wyoming Employment Security Law are:
(1) Agricultural labor unless an employer has a payroll of $20,000 or more in any one quarter or employs ten or more individuals for a part of one day for 20 weeks.
(2) Domestic help, unless earnings exceed $1000 in any one quarter.
(3) Services performed by an individual while in the employ of city, county, or state government if such individual performed such services as: (a) an elected official or certain policy making and advisory positions; (b) member of a legislative body or the judiciary of any political subdivision; (c) an inmate of a state custodial or penal institution; (d) member of the state national guard or air national guard; (e) an emergency employee hired temporarily in case of a disaster. (4) Services performed for churches or religious organizations.
(5) Services performed by a student of a school, college, or university in which that individual is enrolled and regularly attending classes, or by the spouse of a student if the spouse is informed at the time of hire by the institution that the employment is provided under a financial assistance program and is not covered by unemployment compensation.
(6) Services performed by an individual enrolled in a full-time program of an educational institution combining academic instruction with work experience if the service is an integral part of the program and is certified by the institution to the employer. This does not apply to services performed in a program established for an employer of groups of employers.
(7) Services performed by an individual under the age of eighteen in the delivery of newspapers or shopping news.
(8) Services performed by an individual in the employ of his/her son, daughter, spouse and services performed by a child under the age of nineteen in the employ of his/her father or mother.
(9) Services performed as a licensed real estate broker or salesperson employed on a commission basis only.
(10) Services of barbers and beauticians under certain conditions.
(11) Services performed by a person working in a rehabilitation facility who is receiving rehabilitation or remunerative work.
(12) Services performed by a hospital patient employed by the hospital.
(13) Services performed for the federal government or any federal agency exempt by federal constitution, except service for those agencies otherwise required by law to contribute to any state unemployment compensation fund.
(14) Services performed by an individual receiving wages as part of an unemployment work experience or “workfare” program assisted or financed by the federal government or any state or local government, except for those on-the-job training employees that are wholly or partially paid by the employer.
(15) Self-employed individuals.
(16) Workers in the railroad industry.

Employment represents the total number of employees on the payroll of establishments subject to the UCFE programs and state UI laws who worked full- or part-time or received pay for any part of the pay period that is included in the 12th of each month. This includes salaried officers of corporations, executives, and persons on vacation or sick leave.

Total Payroll includes all wages paid to covered employees including commissions, bonuses, cash, the reasonable cash value of board and meals, housing, payment in kind, and all payments in any medium other than cash received by a person from his/her employer.

Annual Average Weekly Wage per employee is derived by dividing the total annual payroll for any given industry by the average annual employment by 52 weeks in the year. The payroll data have the characteristics and restrictions of any gross payroll data. Payroll covers full-time as well as part-time workers and includes remuneration for overtime, extra shift work, vacation, and holiday pay. The average weekly wage is a summary statistic combining all wage and salary levels and all grades and classes of labor.

Annual Wage per employee is derived by dividing total annual payroll for any given industry by the average annual employment. Annual pay data only approximate annual earnings because an employee may not be employed by the same employer all year or may work for more than one employer.

This publication is intended for use in the administration of employment and training programs and to facilitate local planning and economic development efforts. Letters and comments about this and other Research & Planning publications should be addressed to:

Department of Employment
Research & Planning
P. O. Box 2760
Casper, Wyoming 82602
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