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Senate Study Bill 1172

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  94B.1  SHORT TITLE.
  1  2    This chapter shall be known as the "Iowa Professional
  1  3 Employer Organization Recognition Act".
  1  4    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  94B.2  DEFINITIONS.
  1  5    As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
  1  6 requires:
  1  7    1.  "Client" means a person who contracts with a
  1  8 professional employer organization to obtain services from a
  1  9 professional employer organization through a professional
  1 10 employer agreement.
  1 11    2.  "Coemployee" means a person having an employment
  1 12 relationship with both the professional employer organization
  1 13 and the client.  The client's officers, directors,
  1 14 shareholders, and partners are considered coemployees of the
  1 15 professional employer organization if they are earning wages
  1 16 and are acting as operational managers or are performing
  1 17 services for the client.
  1 18    3.  "Person" means a person as defined in section 4.1,
  1 19 subsection 20.
  1 20    4.  "Professional employer agreement" means a written
  1 21 services contract in which:
  1 22    a.  A professional employer organization and a client agree
  1 23 to coemploy a majority of the employees providing service at a
  1 24 client worksite.
  1 25    b.  The contract between the professional employer
  1 26 organization and the client is intended to be ongoing rather
  1 27 than temporary in nature.
  1 28    c.  Employer responsibilities for coemployees, including
  1 29 hiring, firing, and discipline are allocated between the
  1 30 professional employer organization and the client.
  1 31    5.  "Professional employer organization" means a person
  1 32 that enters into a professional employer agreement with a
  1 33 client to coemploy all or a majority of that client's existing
  1 34 workforce at a client worksite.  In determining whether the
  1 35 professional employer organization employs a majority of the
  2  1 employees at a client worksite, any employee who is employed
  2  2 pursuant to the professional employer agreement after the
  2  3 initial placement of client employees on the payroll of the
  2  4 professional employer organization shall be considered a
  2  5 coemployee.
  2  6    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  94B.3  CONTINUING OBLIGATIONS.
  2  7    1.  COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS EXEMPTED.  A
  2  8 professional employer agreement shall have no effect on
  2  9 existing collective bargaining agreements.  Notwithstanding
  2 10 any statements to the contrary, nothing in this chapter shall
  2 11 alter the rights or obligations of any client, professional
  2 12 employer organization, or coemployee under the federal
  2 13 National Labor Relations Act.
  2 14    2.  STATE LICENSING PROVISIONS NOT EXEMPTED.  This chapter
  2 15 does not exempt a client or a coemployee from any state,
  2 16 local, or federal licensing, registration, or certification
  2 17 requirement.
  2 18    a.  A person who must be licensed, registered, or certified
  2 19 according to law and who is a coemployee is deemed an employee
  2 20 of the client for purposes of any license, registration, or
  2 21 certification requirement.
  2 22    b.  A professional employer organization does not engage in
  2 23 an occupation, trade, or profession that is licensed,
  2 24 registered, certified, or otherwise regulated by a
  2 25 governmental entity solely by entering into a professional
  2 26 employer agreement with a client or a coemployee.
  2 27    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  94B.4  REQUIREMENTS.
  2 28    1.  A professional employer organization must meet the
  2 29 following requirements:
  2 30    a.  Have executed a written professional employer agreement
  2 31 between the client and the professional employer organization
  2 32 that sets forth the responsibilities and duties of each party
  2 33 to the agreement.  The professional employer agreement shall:
  2 34    (1)  Contain a description of the type of services to be
  2 35 rendered by the professional employer organization to the
  3  1 client and of the respective rights and obligations of the
  3  2 professional employer organization and the client.
  3  3    (2)  Provide that the professional employer organization
  3  4 does all of the following:
  3  5    (a)  Reserves the right of direction and control over the
  3  6 coemployees working at the client worksite.  However, the
  3  7 right shall be subject to the client's need to maintain the
  3  8 degree of direction and control over the coemployees necessary
  3  9 to conduct the client's business, discharge the client's
  3 10 fiduciary responsibilities, or comply with licensure,
  3 11 registration, or certification requirements applicable to the
  3 12 client.
  3 13    (b)  Assumes responsibility for withholding and remittance
  3 14 of payroll-related taxes and employee benefits for coemployees
  3 15 from the professional employer organization's own accounts, as
  3 16 long as the contract between the client and the professional
  3 17 employer organization remains in force.
  3 18    (c)  Retains authority to hire, terminate, and discipline
  3 19 coemployees.
  3 20    b.  Provide written notice of the general nature of the
  3 21 relationship between the professional employer organization
  3 22 and the client to the coemployees of the client and to the
  3 23 client.
  3 24    2.  A professional employer organization shall be
  3 25 considered an employer of its coemployees for purposes of Iowa
  3 26 law.
  3 27    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  94B.5  WORKERS' COMPENSATION.
  3 28    1.  Both the client and the professional employer
  3 29 organization are considered an employer for purposes of
  3 30 coverage under the Iowa workers' compensation laws provided in
  3 31 chapter 85, 85A, or 85B.
  3 32    2.  Both the professional employer organization and the
  3 33 client are entitled to the protection of section 85.20, the
  3 34 exclusive remedy provision of the Iowa workers' compensation
  3 35 laws, irrespective of whether the professional employer
  4  1 organization or the client secures and provides workers'
  4  2 compensation coverage.
  4  3    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  94B.6  EMPLOYEE BENEFITS.
  4  4    1.  A professional employer organization is considered an
  4  5 employer under Iowa law for the purpose of sponsoring welfare
  4  6 benefit plans for coemployees.
  4  7    2.  This section does not, however, preclude a client from
  4  8 including its coemployees in any welfare benefit plan
  4  9 sponsored by the client or any affiliated company of the
  4 10 client.
  4 11    Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  94B.7  PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER
  4 12 ORGANIZATION – SALE OF SERVICES.
  4 13    The provision of services under and negotiation of
  4 14 professional employer agreements by a professional employer
  4 15 organization in conformance with the provisions of this
  4 16 chapter does not constitute the sale of insurance within the
  4 17 meaning of Title XIII, subtitle 1.
  4 18    Sec. 8.  NEW SECTION.  94B.8  UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
  4 19 INSURANCE.
  4 20    1.  During the term of a professional employer agreement, a
  4 21 professional employer organization is liable in accordance
  4 22 with the provisions of chapter 96 for the payment of
  4 23 contributions, penalties, and interest on wages paid to
  4 24 coemployees.
  4 25    2.  The professional employer organization shall report and
  4 26 pay all required contributions to the unemployment
  4 27 compensation fund using the state employer account number and
  4 28 the contribution rate of the professional employer
  4 29 organization.
  4 30    3.  A professional employer organization that enters into a
  4 31 professional employer agreement with a client during the
  4 32 course of a taxable year shall receive a credit for amounts
  4 33 already paid by the client to the unemployment compensation
  4 34 fund for any employee coemployed by the professional employer
  4 35 organization.  
  5  1                           EXPLANATION
  5  2    This bill creates new Code chapter 94B that recognizes
  5  3 professional employer organizations.  The bill defines a
  5  4 "professional employer organization" as a person that enters
  5  5 into a written contract with a client to coemploy all or a
  5  6 majority of the client's employees.  Both a client and a
  5  7 professional employer organization are a "person" as that term
  5  8 is defined in Code section 4.1, subsection 20, that means
  5  9 individual, corporation, limited liability company, government
  5 10 or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate,
  5 11 trust, partnership, or association, or any other legal entity.
  5 12    A professional employer agreement between a professional
  5 13 employer organization and a client allocates employer
  5 14 responsibilities for coemployees including hiring, firing, and
  5 15 discipline between the parties to the agreement.  Both the
  5 16 client and the professional employer organization are
  5 17 considered employers for purposes of Iowa workers'
  5 18 compensation law.  The professional employer organization is
  5 19 considered an employer for purposes of sponsoring welfare
  5 20 benefit plans and reporting and making contributions to the
  5 21 unemployment compensation fund.  
  5 22 LSB 2630SC 79
  5 23 av/cls/14
     

Text: SSB01171                          Text: SSB01173
Text: SSB01100 - SSB01199               Text: SSB Index
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