The department shall determine and specify in a contract whether a contractor under sub. (4) or an employer is the individual’s employer of record. The employer of record shall pay the individual for hours actually worked at not less than the federal or state minimum wage that applies to the individual.

The department may reimburse an employer, or a contractor under sub. (4), that employs an individual participating in the program for a minimum of 20 hours per week at a location in this state for any of the following costs that are attributable to the employment of the individual under the program: a. A wage subsidy that is equal to an amount negotiated between the department and the employer or contractor, that is paid for each hour the individual actually worked, not to exceed 40 hours per week, and that is not more than the federal or state minimum wage that applies to the individual. b. Federal social security and Medicare taxes. c. State and federal unemployment insurance contributions or taxes, if any. d. Worker’s compensation insurance premiums, if any.

An employer, or, subject to the approval of the department, a contractor under sub. (4), that employs an individual participating in the program may pay the individual an amount that exceeds any wage subsidy paid to the employer or contractor by the department under subd. 3. a., except that the employer or contractor must pay the individual at least minimum wage.

The employment of an individual under this section may not do any of the following: a. Have the effect of filling a vacancy created by an employer terminating a regular employee or otherwise reducing its work force for the purpose of hiring an individual under this section. b. Fill a position when any other person is on layoff or strike from the same or a substantially equivalent job within the same organizational unit. c. Fill a position when any other person is engaged in a labor dispute regarding the same or a substantially equivalent job within the same organizational unit.