To enable the Board and the Department to administer Part XI of Florida Statutes Chapter 468, the Board hereby interprets the following terms as used in the definition of employee leasing as follows:
    (1) “”Health benefits or health plan,”” as used in Florida Statutes § 468.529, means provision of comprehensive major medical health benefits.
    (2) “”Intangible assets”” as used herein to enable initial applicants to properly report their financial assets to meet the requirements for licensure, means assets that lack physical substance. The value of intangible assets is generally based on the value of the rights inherent in them or results from allocation of costs incurred to future periods, in which case they have no realizable or recoverable value outside of their ability to benefit future earnings in the normal course of operations. Intangible assets are normally subject to amortization. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents, organization costs, deferred costs, client enrollment costs, and excess of assets acquired over purchase price.
    (3) “”Primarily responsible”” as used in Florida Statutes § 468.529(1), means that the admitted carrier is liable for all claims incurred under the plan of insurance during its effective period, regardless of any reimbursement or indemnification agreement between the licensed employee leasing company and the carrier. Any reimbursement or indemnification agreement between the employee leasing company and the admitted insurance carrier shall not limit or diminish the carrier’s primary responsibility for its obligations under the health plan for the payment of claims incurred or the provision of benefits under the health plan.
    (4) “”Shared responsibility”” as used in Section 468.525(4)(a), F.S., means that the client company exercises such right of direction and control over the leased employee as is necessary to conduct its business and without which the client would be unable to conduct its business, discharge any fiduciary responsibility which it may have, or comply with any applicable licensure, regulatory, or other responsibilities the client company may have.
    (5) “”Tangible accounting net worth”” means net worth presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles reduced by the aggregate amount of intangible assets.
    (6) “”Temporary”” as used in Florida Statutes § 468.520(4), means a situation in which leased employees are not needed on a longterm, ongoing basis, but rather are only needed to support or supplement the client company’s work force in special work situations, such as employee absences, temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads, and special assignments and projects, for a period not to exceed one year.
    (7) No reservation, assumption, or retention by an employee leasing company of any responsibility, obligation, authority, or right as set forth in Sections 468.525(4)(a)-(f), F.S., is meant to, or shall be interpreted to, in any way imply or establish a joint employer relationship with any client or to in any way impact a client’s sole responsibility to conduct its business, discharge any fiduciary responsibility that it may have, or comply with any applicable licensure, regulatory, or statutory requirement of the client. The client shall be entitled to exercise all rights, and shall be obligated to perform all duties and responsibilities, otherwise applicable to it as an employer in an employment relationship. Without limiting the foregoing, the following definitions shall apply:
    (a) “”Assumes responsibility for the payment of wages”” as used in Section 468.525(4)(b), F.S., means the obligation of the employee leasing company to comply with the terms of employment established by the employee leasing company with an employee relating to the payment of wages of the employee. The term does not include any obligation on the part of the employee leasing company to assume any contractual obligation which may exist between a client of an employee leasing company and any leased employee, or any other compensation or benefit, in any form, unless the employee leasing company specifically adopts such obligations by way of a written agreement entered into with the leased employee.
    (b) “”Full Responsibility”” as used herein to determine whether an employee leasing company’s contractual arrangements comply with the conditions as set forth in Section 468.525(4)(c), F.S., means complete and total responsibility for the collection of and payment of all payroll taxes on payroll reported to and paid by the employee leasing company, which are payable to the Internal Revenue Service and/or to the State of Florida for services performed by leased employees as leased employees.
    (c) “”Reserves a right of direction and control over leased employees assigned to the client’s location”” as used in Section 468.525(4)(a), F.S., does not imply or require the actual exercise of such direction and control by the employee leasing company. Additionally, the term does not give the employee leasing company the obligation to direct, control, or supervise the work performed by leased employees or give the employee leasing company the right to modify employment conditions of leased employees or to act or interfere with a client’s action. Such reserved right of direction and control shall be imputed for the limited purpose of the employee leasing company’s employer status pursuant to Florida Statutes § 468.529 with regard to its insurance, employment tax, and benefit plans. The client shall exercise such direction and control as may be allocated to the client, in writing, and in conformity with Florida law.
    (d) “”Retains authority to hire, terminate, discipline, and reassign the leased employees”” as used in Section 468.525(4)(d), F.S., means the employee leasing company has the right to add and remove leased employees from its payroll, but it does not imply or require the actual exercise of such authority by the employee leasing company at the job site at which or from which the leased employees work. The client shall exercise such authority as may be allocated to it in writing and in conformity with applicable law.
    (e) “”Retains a right of direction and control over management of safety, risk, and hazard control at the worksite or sites affecting its leased employees, including:
    1. Responsibility for performing safety inspections of client equipment and premises;
    2. Responsibility for the promulgation and administration of employment and safety policies; and
    3. Responsibility for the management of workers’ compensation claims, claims filings, and related procedures;”” as used in Section 468.525(4)(e), F.S., means the employee leasing company has the right and responsibility to monitor compliance with such workers’ compensation insurance as is maintained by the employee leasing company for leased employees for purposes of the employee leasing company’s internal risk management and to manage workers’ compensation claims, claims filings, and related procedures with respect to such workers’ compensation insurance. It does not mean that the employee leasing company is responsible, independently or jointly, for the client’s obligations with respect to workplace safety, nor does it imply or require the actual exercise of such direction and control by the employee leasing company. The client shall exercise such direction and control as may be allocated to the client, in writing, and in conformity with applicable law.
    (8) As used in Florida Statutes § 468.529 an employee leasing company’s “”employer”” status shall only apply to insurance it is required to maintain with respect to leased employees, including providing workers’ compensation coverage pursuant to Florida Statutes Chapter 440; payment of employment tax for purposes of wages it issues to leased employees, including payment of reemployment assistance taxes pursuant to Florida Statutes Chapter 443; and benefit plans it sponsors covering leased employees, to the extent consistent with applicable law; and shall not affect the status of a client as an employer of its own leased employees under applicable law nor imply or establish that an employee leasing company and its client are joint employers.
Rulemaking Authority 468.522 FS. Law Implemented 468.520, 468.525(3), (4)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), 468.529(1) FS. History-New 7-20-92, Formerly 21EE-6.001, Amended 9-14-93, 10-24-94, 7-18-95, 4-26-01, 10-13-03, 8-18-04, 7-3-22.