Unemployment Insurance for Referees

[intechpc]

This one comes to you straight from the land of cows, cheese and Packers football. The Wisconsin Unemployment Commission has decided (and two seperate judges have upheld) that coaches, trainers and referees must be covered by unemployment insurance and that clubs must begin withholding unemployment taxes from their pay. This is where the independent contractor vs employee battle is going to come to a head. The Wisconsin Soccer Association is filing a lawsuit to get the decision reversed, but this could really suck if the ruling is allowed to stand.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=703322

[falcon.7]

I have referee unemployment insurance. It's called a day job.

Ridiculous...

[mkoenig_1]

Wisconsin is not alone. Also dealing with this in Connecticut....

And yes, ridiculous.

[Tarheel Ref]

I have referee unemployment insurance. It's called a day job.

Ridiculous...

Funny as hell LOL and ridiculous too.

As for the employee vs. independent contractor issue, I would think that as long as we are able to decline some assignments (choosing when and where we work) and accept only those we want or are able to do there is no way that we could be classified as "employees." I've been both employee and independent contractor (for income sources other than refereeing) at various times and it's always been my understanding that an employee works where and when he/she is told with tools/materials provided by the employer whereas an independent contractor gets the job done on their own schedule with their own tools (all those different damn uniforms we have to buy!!!).

I'm going through my own personal Hell with the NC Dept of Revenue on another issue right now...just "da Man" trying to reach deeper and deeper into our pockets.

[oldmanreferee]

wait hey look on the bright side now in the off season they have to pay you unemployment and you receive benefits. I am no lawyer but if your paying then you should be able to collect since you are "unemployed in the offseason". SO my $1000 dollar question is if a referee from Idaho comes in to do a MISL match does he have to pay unemployment insurance fee?

[Tarheel Ref]

wait hey look on the bright side now in the off season they have to pay you unemployment and you receive benefits. I am no lawyer but if your paying then you should be able to collect since you are "unemployed in the offseason". SO my $1000 dollar question is if a referee from Idaho comes in to do a MISL match does he have to pay unemployment insurance fee?

I bet (oops can't do that) it would cost more than that to get an answer from a lawyer!!!

[campton]

Please dont let it be illinois next. I do not want to file taxes...

[Craig P]

Please dont let it be illinois next. I do not want to file taxes...
I think this is independent of you filing (or not filing) taxes.

In fact, if I'm reading this right, it only affects the referees indirectly, in terms of how they get compensated by the leagues. It's the leagues that hire them that have to deal with it.

[intechpc]

I think this is independent of you filing (or not filing) taxes.

In fact, if I'm reading this right, it only affects the referees indirectly, in terms of how they get compensated by the leagues. It's the leagues that hire them that have to deal with it.

You're correct in that the leagues have to pay but it means they are now reporting your wages to a state run organization. How long do you think you'd really be able to keep that information from the state Department of Revenue. For sure if you ever got audited you'd easily be nailed.

[gosellit]

You're correct in that the leagues have to pay but it means they are now reporting your wages to a state run organization. How long do you think you'd really be able to keep that information from the state Department of Revenue. For sure if you ever got audited you'd easily be nailed.

PC,
I think you have it correct. This is a way to have referee, coach, etc. pay reported to the state.

Also, who could collect this so called unemployment insurance? Most of us are employed full time so we would be unable to collect. I guess those students that referee as a part time job might have a case during the off season.

Just more government intrusion into our lives.

[Craig P]

You're correct in that the leagues have to pay but it means they are now reporting your wages to a state run organization. How long do you think you'd really be able to keep that information from the state Department of Revenue. For sure if you ever got audited you'd easily be nailed.

That's assuming that the "you" of your post is illegally failing to report their income on their tax returns. In that event, yes, I'd agree that there's going to be an impact on the referee as well.

[njref]

I am a tax lawyer in my day job. Many years ago as president of a NJ league we fought the employee vs. independent contractor fight and won, and we did not have as good facts as most people on this board.

Most referees here furnish their own equipment, have professional certification, have the ability to and actually do referee for multiple leagues/tournaments (employers), have their own insurance (from the USSF), set their own hours, and are not told how to perform their duties by the league outside of general guidelines. This should make you an independent contractor.

But you must distinguish the above (which applies to most members of this board) from a league that pays uncertified referees and furnishs equipment to them, which would probably be on the other side of the line.

Also, in Wisconsin, there was a case a few years back involving a hockey association that served as a middleman for referees, setting up the assignments for a fee and then paying all the referees by check. That case found that the referees were employees of the association. The case seemed to turn on some procedural errors by the association, so I am not sure that it would govern soccer referees. Among other points, the state found that the association failed to show that the hockey referees had any assignments outside of those assigned through the association. The case is on the Wisconsin unemployment bureau website (search "referees" once on their webpage).

Getting all of your assignments and pay from an association is a bad fact. Getting assignments from various assignors and getting paid by the teams is a much better fact (for being an independent contractor).

[mkoenig_1]

As I understand it here in CT, the State Dept of Revenue has a different test than does the Labor Department, thus adding to the confusion on the part of clubs and leagues.

I wonder how this applies though to seasonal work, which varies from week to week sometimes. How on earth would the state evaluate my claim that I have been "laid off" as a referee?

[Tarheel Ref]

Please dont let it be illinois next. I do not want to file taxes...

Yes, filing taxes is not fun, but...just a tip...you should (IMHO) pay attention to the income you earn as a referee for the future for all kinds of reasons...as you get older you'll want a credit card and having no income (reported to the IRS) will make that very difficult. Also be aware that if you earn more than $600 (I believe that's still the threshold) from any one source they may file a 1099 (income paid to an independent contractor) with the IRS forcing you to file and report. Also if your Mom follows through with her requirement that you get a J-O-B you'll have to file anyway.

I do file and report my referee income to the IRS as refereeing is my only income now; tracking deductible expenses reduces the taxes I owe on my earned income to zero or a very small amount (my payments to OSI are second only to the mileage deduction each year!).

[mkoenig_1]

I'm with Tarheel on this one. The recordkeeping is simple and straightforward. Thus the benefits far outweigh the risks of not filing. What I am still scratching my head over is whether I can write off my gym membership, PT, massage therapy, etc. :-)

[Tarheel Ref]

I'm with Tarheel on this one. The recordkeeping is simple and straightforward. Thus the benefits far outweigh the risks of not filing. What I am still scratching my head over is whether I can write off my gym membership, PT, massage therapy, etc. :-)

I'm pretty sure that most of those things are deductible...all these things are medical/health expenses related to the physical demands of our profession/avocation. I visit a massage therapist two or three times a year (when my body starts really breaking down...generally towards the end of each season) and deduct these expenses annually...haven't been audited but my massage therapists know I report their fees as a deduction and are ready to be questioned by the IRS if necessary.

I don't belong to a gym (my university has some damn fine gym equipment I COULD use should I choose to do so) nor have I needed PT recently but I wouldn't think twice about deducting those expenses if/when I incur them.

[falcon.7]

For high school games in CT, the assignments are done through 6 boards, each with their own person who gets paid 6-7% of the game fees of the games he assigns. As I understand it, past rulings in other states have deemed this as "employing" the referees. It's the same way with college - does being a NISOA member, to whom you pay dues in exchange for games, constitute being employed by that organization?

I think the real issue is why do referees/coaches (all of whom have regular jobs) need unemployment insurance at all? What possible basis could this whole thing even have? Is it just an excuse for the IRS to take more of my money? I understand if you're job is being a secretary to a club or organization - then you would want to be able to claim unemployment, but why part-timers?

On further thought, if we do this right, we might be able to get disability insurance for when we're injured and can't do games. Or hazard pay for risk of injury from parents and coaches. Or overtime for those extra games we agree to do at tournaments!

[Tarheel Ref]

What possible basis could this whole thing even have? Is it just an excuse for the IRS to take more of my money?

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Doug the Ref]

For high school games in CT, the assignments are done through 6 boards, each with their own person who gets paid 6-7% of the game fees of the games he assigns. As I understand it, past rulings in other states have deemed this as "employing" the referees. It's the same way with college - does being a NISOA member, to whom you pay dues in exchange for games, constitute being employed by that organization? ...



We belong to NISOA but do not get any assignments from NISOA. We get them from the school, conference or their contracted assignor. NISOA doesn't employ us, and I have a cancelled check to prove it. :)

[andymoss]

I see myself as being like a sub-contractor for an assignor, be it USSF, HS, college, indoor, whatever.

It could be argued that an assignor is "employed" by each club team, HS district, college conferences for which they work.

I keep complete game records - where, when, whom, score, pay, cards, unusual incidents (you never know when you'll be asked to recall something). Helps at tax time and for game log.

I will write off $2K in eqpt and 11K miles for '07, reducing my taxable referee compensation to about $4K.

I pay $75 extra to the IRS per pay period from my day job (26 pa) to offset this. I'll get back about $500 as a refund. The ideal being as little as possible or even owing a little.