PART XII.  PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS

§1761.  Definitions

As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings hereinafter ascribed to them:

(1)  "Client" means an employer who obtains services on all or a majority of its work force or labor from a professional employer organization.

(2)  "Covered employee" means a person having a co-employment relationship with both a PEO and the PEO's client pursuant to an executed PEO service agreement.

(3)  "Co-employment relationship" means an employment relationship whereby both the client and the PEO have an employer/employee relationship with the covered employee and the direction and control of the covered employee is shared by or allocated between the client and the PEO pursuant to a PEO service agreement.

(4)  "Experience rating" shall have the meaning assigned to it under the Employment Security Law.

(5)  "Independent contractor" means a person who, for the purposes of the Employment Security Law, satisfies the exception provided in R.S. 23:1472(12)(E).

(6)  "Person" means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity.

(7)  "Professional Employer Organization" or "PEO" means any person that offers professional employer services pursuant to a professional employer services agreement with a client, including but not limited to administrative services organizations and employee leasing organizations that provide services pursuant to a PEO agreement.  Such PEO shall be considered an employer for purposes of this Chapter.

(8)  "Professional employer services agreement" or "PEO services agreement" means an agreement between a professional employer organization and a client pursuant to which the professional employer organization will upon execution of the agreement co-employ a substantial part of a client's workforce and undertake specified responsibilities as an employer for all covered employees that are co-employed by the agreement between the professional employer organization and the client.

(9)  "Staffing service" means any person or entity, other than a professional employer organization, that supplies workers to a client to support or supplement the client's workforce. It includes temporary staffing services and leasing companies that supply employees to clients in special work situations such as employee absences, temporary  worker shortages, seasonal workloads, and special assignments and projects, and other similar work situations.

(10)  "Temporary employee" is an employee, whether called temporary employee or leased employee, who is recruited by a staffing service or employee leasing company, is assigned to a client by such service or company, and is expected to return to the staffing service or leasing company for reassignment at the end of duties at the client company.

(11)  "UI tax account" means a state unemployment tax account.

Acts 2001, No. 1150, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2012, No. 786, §1.