Original Notice.

     Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 07-11-164.

     Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Adopting new rules, and amending existing rules, within chapter 192-300 WAC, relating to professional employer organizations (PEOs). Topics include definition of terms; requirements for PEOs, including those related to registration and notification to the department, payment of taxes, providing documentation of authority to act on behalf of client employer(s), and maintenance of and access to records; tax rates for PEOs and their client employers; enforcement, penalties, and collection of taxes owed by a client employer; and prohibiting joint accounts by a PEO, a third-party payer, or a common paymaster.

     Hearing Location(s): Employment Security Department, Maple Leaf Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 212 Maple Park, Olympia, WA, on November 8, 2007, at 8:30 a.m.

     Date of Intended Adoption: November 20, 2007.

     Submit Written Comments to: Pamela Ames, ESD Rules Coordinator, Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98506, e-mail pames@esd.wa.gov, fax (360) 902-9799, by November 7, 2007.

     Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Beverly Peterson by November 7, 2007, TTY (360) 902-9569 or (360) 902-9234.

     Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The proposed rules will implement sections 9 through 17, chapter 146, Laws of 2007 of ESSB 5373. The legislation requires PEOs to register with the department for unemployment insurance purposes, ensure their client employers are registered, file tax reports and payments on behalf of their client employers, maintain records that are available to the department for inspection, and sets penalties for PEOs that do not comply with the registration requirements. The proposed rules provide notice to the public as to how the department interprets and plans to implement the legislative changes.

     Reasons Supporting Proposal: The department does not currently have any rules regulating PEOs and their client employers. The proposed rules are necessary to clarify terms and outline how the department will implement the legislation.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040.

     Statute Being Implemented: Sections 9 through 17, chapter 146, Laws of 2007.

     Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

     Name of Proponent: Employment security department, governmental.

     Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Art Wang, 212 Maple Park, Olympia, (360) 902-9587; Implementation and Enforcement: Nan Thomas, 212 Maple Park, Olympia, (360) 902-9303.

     No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The proposed rules will not impose more than minor costs on businesses, nor will there be a disproportionate impact on small business. Further, business costs associated with these rules are the result of the underlying legislation.

     A cost-benefit analysis is required under RCW 34.05.328. A preliminary cost-benefit analysis may be obtained by contacting Juanita Myers, UI Rules Coordinator, Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98506, phone (360) 902-9665, fax (360) 902-9799, e-mail jmyers@esd.wa.gov.

October 2, 2007

Paul Trause

Deputy Commissioner

OTS-1101.2

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 99-20-128, filed 10/6/99, effective 11/6/99)

WAC 192-300-180   Joint accounts.   ((Relates to)) (RCW 50.24.170.)

     (1) Any two or more employers may form joint accounts (consolidate) for the purposes of reporting and dealing with the ((unemployment insurance division of the)) department.

     (2) Joint accounts must be acceptable to the department and cannot:

     (((i))) (a) Impair any obligation by these employers to the ((unemployment insurance division)) department;

     (((ii))) (b) Interfere with the payment of benefits to ((workers)) claimants;

     (((iii) Result in any administrative inconvenience to the division)) (c) Increase administrative costs to the department; or

     (((iv))) (d) Allow an employer to receive an experience rate to which it was not entitled.

     (3) Joint accounts must provide for the maintenance of all records ((necessary under the Employment Security Act)) required under Title 50 RCW.

     (4) Joint accounts may not be formed until the department has approved in writing the consolidation plan ((of consolidation, in writing)).

     (5) A joint account ((should never be confused with a common paymaster. A common paymaster is an independent third party who contracts with, and represents, two or more employers; and who files a combined tax report for those employers. Common paymaster does not meet the department's definition of a joint account. We do not allow this type of reporting)) may not be established for a third-party payer under RCW 50.04.248, a common paymaster under RCW 50.04.065, or a professional employer organization under RCW 50.04.298.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 34.05, 50.12 RCW and RCW 50.24.170. 99-20-128, § 192-300-180, filed 10/6/99, effective 11/6/99.]

     A "professional employer organization" includes entities that use the term "staff leasing company," "permanent leasing company," "registered staff leasing company," "employee leasing company," or "administrative employer" and provide professional employer services to client employers. It does not include independent contractors under RCW 50.04.140, temporary staffing services companies and services referral agencies under RCW 50.04.245, third-party payers under RCW 50.04.248, labor organizations, or common paymasters or common pay agents under RCW 50.04.065.

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     (2) Professional employer organizations must file a master business application with the state. They must register with the department under RCW 50.12.070 and obtain an employer reference number issued by the department (employment security number). This applies to professional employer organizations that have their own employees in this state and to professional employer organizations that have client employers who do business or have employees in this state.

     (3) Professional employer organizations must ensure that their client employers are registered with the department under RCW 50.12.070. Professional employer organizations may only file papers to register the client employer if they also have filed with the department a power of attorney form signed by an authorized representative of the client employer.

     (4) In order to represent a client employer to the department, a professional employer organization must file with the department a power of attorney in a form acceptable to the department. The signed power of attorney form may be sent by fax or in other electronic form acceptable to the department. The department will acknowledge receipt of the power of attorney to the sender and will send a letter to the client employer confirming that the professional employer organization is authorized to represent it to the department.

     (5)(a) Professional employer organizations shall provide the department with the following information for client employers: Names, addresses, unified business identifier numbers, employment security numbers, names and Social Security numbers of corporate officers, owners and partners (if not a corporation or limited liability company), or limited liability company members, effective date the relationship between the professional employer organization and client employer began, and a business location in Washington state where payroll and business records for the client employer will be made available for review or inspection when requested by the department.

     Information is due:

     (i) By September 1, 2007, for all then existing client employers;

     (ii) Within thirty days for any client employer registering with the department for the first time; and

     (iii) Within thirty days of the effective date whenever the professional employer organization and a client employer enter a professional employer agreement.

     (b) Professional employer organizations shall notify the department within thirty days of the termination of a relationship with a client employer. The notice shall include the name, address, unified business identifier number, employment security number, effective date, and contact information for the client employer.

     (c) The department shall provide forms for the information required in this subsection. The department may require the professional employer organization to submit the information in an electronic format.

     (6) Professional employer organizations shall maintain accurate payroll records for each client employer and make them available for review and inspection at a business location in Washington state when requested by the department. The location may vary for different client employers. Appropriate department facilities may be used for this purpose with the consent of the department. The department may require client employers or professional employer organizations to produce other business and financial records at an in-state location in the same manner it requires other employers to do so under WAC 192-310-050.

     (7) Professional employer organizations shall file quarterly tax and wage reports for client employers they represent in a format specified by the department. Reports shall contain separate and distinct information for each client employer, regardless of the format used. Professional employer organizations may file a single electronic report for multiple client employers, separate paper or electronic reports for individual client employers, or a combination of electronic and paper filing.

     (8) The department shall provide an electronic system for filing quarterly tax and wage reports which allows a professional employer organization to make payments when filing for multiple client employers with a single payment for those employers.

     (9) If the professional employer organization files separate quarterly tax and wage reports for individual client employers, it shall make separate payments for each employer.

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     (2)(a) This subsection applies to professional employer organizations and client employers which have a coemployment relationship as of January 1, 2008.

     (b) Except as provided in (d) and (e) of this subsection, the tax rate for professional employer organizations and client employers shall be determined on the basis that the client employer transferred from the professional employer organization effective January 1, 2008. A client employer's proportionate experience (benefits charged and taxable payroll) for the entire first quarter beginning January 1, 2008, shall transfer to the client employer. On or after January 1, 2008, experience shall transfer to a client employer regardless of whether the professional employer organization was the base year employer prior to that date.

     (c) The client employer's tax rate shall remain unchanged for the remainder of the rate year in which the transfer occurred.

     (d) Client employers that are qualified employers under RCW 50.29.010 or are delinquent under RCW 50.29.025 (2)(c)(i) and that joined a professional employment organization after the computation date of July 1, 2007, shall be assigned their own tax rate for 2008 as if they had not joined the professional employer organization. Any experience from July 1, 2007, to December 31, 2007, assigned to the professional employer organization for those client employers shall transfer to the client employer for purposes of setting future rates.

     (e) If an employer is registered with the department and has its own tax rate, but is also a client employer for purposes of some of its employees, it shall keep its own tax rate for 2008 and that rate shall apply to all its employees. Any employees of a client employer that is in a coemployment relationship with a professional employer organization shall be considered a branch account under the registered employer.

     (f) Beginning on January 1 of the year after the transfer, the client employer's tax rate for each rate year shall be based on a combination of:

     (i) The client employer's experience with payrolls and benefits; and

     (ii) The experience assigned to the professional employer organization which is attributable to the client employer, based on the percentage of employees transferred as of January 1, 2008, regardless of the date the client employer joined the professional employer organization.

     (g)(i) The professional employer organization's tax rate on any payroll retained by the professional employer organization shall remain unchanged for the remainder of the year in which the transfer occurs.

     (ii) Beginning on January 1 of the year after the transfer, the professional employer organization's tax rate for each rate year shall be based on its experience with payrolls and benefits as of the regular computation date for that rate year excluding the experience that has been attributed to client employers.

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     (2) Unless the professional employer organization has already notified the department that it has not received payments from the client employer, the department shall first attempt to collect any payments due from the professional employer organization and shall not attempt to collect from the client employer until at least ten days from the date payment was due. Collection procedures shall follow the requirements of chapter 50.24 RCW.

     (3) A professional employer organization may elect to provide a bond to cover payments due. Any bond for this purpose shall be filed with the department, shall be in a form satisfactory to the commissioner, and shall be in an amount not less than the amount of contributions due in the highest quarter of the preceding calendar year. A bond does not relieve the professional employer organization or its client employers of ultimate liability for payments due.

     (4) In case of error by a professional employer organization in which reports are incomplete, inaccurate, or late, or if the professional employer organization makes a single payment that does not match the amount due for multiple employers, the department will initially apply any penalty and interest charges for all amounts due against the professional employer organization, regardless of whether the professional employer organization has employees in Washington. However, the client employer ultimately remains liable for any taxes, penalties, or interest due.

     All client employers of a professional employer organization may be subject to the tax rate for delinquent taxpayers if a delinquency under WAC 192-320-035 cannot be assigned to a specific client employer.

     (5) If a professional employer organization reports employees of a client employer as its own employees, a first violation will be considered an incorrect report for the professional employer organization and an untimely report for the client employer under RCW 50.12.220(2). A second violation will be considered knowing misrepresentation under RCW 50.12.220(3). A third violation will be considered grounds for revocation of the authority of a professional employer organization to act on behalf of its client employers.

     (6) The department may revoke the authority of a professional employer organization to act on behalf of its client employers if the professional employer organization substantially fails to comply with the provisions of RCW 50.12.300. An order to revoke the authority of a professional employer organization shall be considered an appealable order under chapter 34.05 RCW comparable to an order and notice of assessment under RCW 50.32.030.

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