WV Code § 21A-1A-16 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 21A. Unemployment Compensation|Article 1A. Definitions|§21A-1A-16. Employment

Employment, subject to the other provisions of this article, means:(1) Service, including service in interstate commerce, performed for wages or under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied;(2) Any service performed by an employee, as defined in Section 3306(i) of the federal Unemployment Tax Act, including service in interstate commerce;(3) Any service performed, including service in interstate commerce, by any officer of a corporation;(4) An individuals entire service, performed within or both within and without this state if: (A) The service is localized in this state; or (B) the service is not localized in any state but some of the service is performed in this state and: (i) The base of operations, or, if there is no base of operations, then the place from which the service is directed or controlled, is in this state; or (ii) the base of operations or place from which the service is directed or controlled is not in any state in which some part of the service is performed but the individuals residence is in this state;(5) Service not covered under subdivision (4) of this section and performed entirely without this state with respect to no part of which contributions are required and paid under an unemployment compensation law of any other state or of the federal government, is employment subject to this chapter if the individual performing the services is a resident of this state and the commissioner approves the election of the employing unit for whom the services are performed that the entire service of the individual is employment subject to this chapter;(6) Service is localized within a state, if: (A) The service is performed entirely within the state; or (B) the service is performed both within and without the state, but the service performed without the state is incidental to the individuals service within this state, as, for example, is temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated transactions;(7) Services performed by an individual for wages are employment subject to this chapter unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the individual is classified as an independent contractor pursuant to 21-5I-4 of this code;(8) All service performed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel (as defined in Section 305 of an act of Congress entitled Social Security Act Amendment of 1946, approved August 10, 1946), on or in connection with the vessel, provided that the operating office, from which the operations of the vessel operating on navigable waters within and without the United States is ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled, is within this state;(9)(A) Service performed by an individual in the employ of this state or any of its instrumentalities (or in the employ of this state and one or more other states or their instrumentalities) for a hospital or institution of higher education located in this state: Provided, That the service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the federal Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section 3306(c)(7) of that act and is not excluded from "employment" under 21A-1A-17(9) of this code;(B) Service performed in the employ of this state or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions thereof or any of its instrumentalities or any instrumentality of more than one of the foregoing or any instrumentality of any foregoing and one or more other states or political subdivisions: Provided, That the service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the federal Unemployment Tax Act by Section 3306(c)(7) of that act and is not excluded from "employment" under 21A-1A-17(13) of this code; and(C) Service performed in the employ of a nonprofit educational institution which is not an institution of higher education;(10) Service performed by an individual in the employ of a religious, charitable, educational, or other organization but only if the following conditions are met:(A) The service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the federal Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section 3306(c)(8) of that act; and(B) The organization had four or more individuals in employment for some portion of a day in each of 20 different weeks, whether or not the weeks were consecutive, within either the current or preceding calendar year, regardless of whether they were employed at the same moment of time;(11) Service of an individual who is a citizen of the United States, performed outside the United States after December 31, 1971 (except in Canada and in the case of the Virgin Islands after December 31, 1971, and before January 1 the year following the year in which the Secretary of Labor approves for the first time an unemployment insurance law submitted to him or her by the Virgin Islands for approval), in the employ of an American employer (other than service which is considered "employment" under the provisions of subdivision (4), (5), or (6) of this section or the parallel provisions of another states law) if:(A) The employers principal place of business in the United States is located in this state; or(B) The employer has no place of business in the United States, but: (i) The employer is an individual who is a resident of this state; or (ii) the employer is a corporation which is organized under the laws of this state; or (iii) the employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of the partners or trustees who are residents of this state is greater than the number who are residents of any one other state; or(C) None of the criteria of paragraphs (A) and (B) of this subdivision is met but the employer has elected coverage in this state or, the employer having failed to elect coverage in any state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on the service, under the law of this state.(D) An "American employer", for purposes of this subdivision, means a person who is: (i) An individual who is a resident of the United States; or (ii) a partnership if two thirds or more of the partners are residents of the United States; or (iii) a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States; or (iv) a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any state;(12) Service performed by an individual in agricultural labor as defined in 21A-1A-17(3) of this code when:(A) The service is performed for a person who: (i) During any calendar quarter in either the current or the preceding calendar year paid remuneration in cash of $20,000 or more to individuals employed in agricultural labor including labor performed by an alien referred to in paragraph (B) of this subdivision; or (ii) for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar weeks, whether or not the weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year, employed in agricultural labor, including labor performed by an alien referred to in paragraph (B) of this subdivision, 10 or more individuals, regardless of whether they were employed at the same moment of time;(B) The service is not performed in agricultural labor if performed by an individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform service in agricultural labor pursuant to Sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;(C) For the purposes of the definition of employment, any individual who is a member of a crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person shall be treated as an employee of the crew leader: (i) If the crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; or substantially all the members of the crew operate or maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or crop-dusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, which is provided by the crew leader; and (ii) if the other person is not otherwise an employer of the individual;(D) For the purposes of this subdivision, in the case of any individual who is furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person and who is not treated as an employee of the crew leader under paragraph (C) of this subdivision: (i) The other person and not the crew leader shall be treated as the employer of the individual; and (ii) the other person shall be treated as having paid cash remuneration to the individual in an amount equal to the amount of cash remuneration paid to the individual by the crew leader (either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of the other person) for the service in agricultural labor performed for the other person; and(E) For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "crew leader" means an individual who: (i) Furnishes individuals to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person; (ii) pays (either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of the other person) the individuals so furnished by him or her for the service in agricultural labor performed by them; and (iii) has not entered into a written agreement with the other person under which the individual is designated as an employee of the other person;(13) (A) The term "employment" includes domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority performed for a person who paid cash remuneration of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year to individuals employed in domestic service; and(B) Notwithstanding the foregoing definition of "employment", if the services performed during one half or more of any pay period by an employee for the person employing him or her constitute employment, all the services of the employee for the period are employment; but if the services performed during more than one half of any such pay period by an employee for the person employing him or her do not constitute employment, then none of the services of the employee for the period are employment.