Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1763 – Rights and responsibilities
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1763
- Administrator: means the secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Calendar quarter: means the period of three consecutive calendar months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31, or the equivalent thereof as the administrator may by regulations prescribe. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Client: means an employer who obtains services on all or a majority of its work force or labor from a professional employer organization. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1761
- Commission: means the Louisiana Workforce Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1
- Contributions: means the money payments to the state unemployment compensation fund, required by this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Employer: means :
(a) Any employing unit which in any calendar quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year paid for services in employment wages of one thousand five hundred dollars or more for some portion of a day in each of twenty different calendar weeks, whether or not such weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year, had in employment at least one individual regardless of whether the same individual was in employment each day. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Employment: means , subject to the other provisions of this Subsection, any services including service in interstate commerce, performed for wages or under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied;
- 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. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1761
- 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. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1761
- State: includes the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- United States: when used in a geographical sense, includes the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Wages: means all remuneration for services, including vacation pay, holiday pay, dismissal pay, commissions, bonuses, the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash, and WARN Act payments received pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
A. For purposes of this Chapter, as long as the professional employer services agreement between the PEO and the client remains in force, a PEO shall be deemed an employer of the covered employees to the extent and for the purposes enumerated in the professional employer services agreement. However, the PEO shall have the following employer rights and responsibilities with regard to such covered employees in any case:
(1) It shall pay the wages of covered employees from its own accounts.
(2) It shall have the responsibility for the withholding and remittance of payroll-related taxes of the covered employees from its own accounts.
(3) It shall pay federal unemployment taxes as required by federal unemployment laws.
(4) It shall have the right to sponsor and maintain fully insured employee benefit and welfare plans for covered employees. Nothing in this Part shall prevent a client from including covered employees in a client benefit program or plan or shall prevent covered employees from participating in such a program or plan.
B.(1) A PEO shall be liable for state unemployment taxes for wages paid by the PEO to covered employees but only for the duration of the PEO services agreement applicable to such employees. The PEO shall collect federal and state unemployment taxes. The PEO shall remit all collected federal unemployment taxes to the United States Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and shall remit all collected state unemployment taxes to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. A PEO shall be required to provide a client with an invoice detailing the services provided which shall include an itemization of the actual federal and state unemployment taxes owed and paid on behalf of the covered employees, as well as any amount the PEO charges for such service.
(2) A PEO shall keep separate records and submit separate quarterly contribution and wage reports for each of its client entities using the client’s account number and unemployment contribution rate.
(3) The PEO and the client shall be jointly and severally liable for any unpaid contributions, interest, and penalties due for Louisiana unemployment taxes attributable to wages for services performed for the client by covered employees.
(4) A PEO client shall be released from joint and several liability under Paragraph (B)(3) and the client shall be released from the separate reporting and contribution rate requirements imposed under Paragraph (B)(2) upon the posting and continued maintenance by the PEO of a surety bond issued by a corporate surety authorized to do business in the state in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars to ensure prompt payment of contributions, interest, and penalties for which the PEO is or may become liable. After three years the bond shall be adjusted in accordance with rules promulgated by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
(5) The PEO shall designate and identify each client and covered employees thereof for each calendar quarter with the filing of quarterly wage reports with the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
(6)(a) No transfer of experience rating will be approved between any client and the PEO unless it is determined by the administrator that an acquisition of assets has occurred. Co-employment of a client’s employees without an acquisition of the business and its other assets will not of itself constitute an acquisition for purposes of the transfer of experience rating.
(b) However, the experience rating will transfer between one PEO to another when it is determined by the administrator that an acquisition of assets has occurred, even if such acquisition is only of a clearly segregable and identifiable or a substantial portion of the first PEO’s labor force.
(7) If a professional employer services agreement is terminated and, within thirty days, the client engages the services of another PEO, both the terminated or terminating PEO and the new PEO will notify the unemployment insurance tax section of the Louisiana Workforce Commission directly within thirty days, and no other action need be taken.
(8) If a professional employer service agreement is terminated and the client resumes sole employment of previously covered employees, any inactive unemployment insurance account previously held by the client will be reopened under its previously existing experience rating. No transfer of experience rating shall be made from the PEO. If there is no previous account number or the account lies dormant for seven years, a new account will be established in accordance with law. If there is no existing experience rating, one will be established pursuant to state law for new businesses.
Acts 2001, No. 1150, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008.