Declaring Self Employed Business Loss & Adding 2nd employee

I am a self-employed sole proprietor of my own LLC, and file by Schedule-C.

Two part question:

1. Is it possible to take a Business Loss by declaring my own wages greater than the revenue ?

1. I know there a complications when going from no employees to having other employees, such as needing to show Workers Compensation Insurance, having a Benefit Plan, etc.. I file a Joint Return with my wife. But if I pay wages to my wife on her work for my LLC, do I need do all those things ? Or are we like the same entity, since we file jointly ?

Thanks!