Whenever used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Client company” means any person that enters into a professional employer agreement with a professional employer organization and has covered employees.

“Covered employee” means an individual who performs services for a client company pursuant to a professional employer agreement.

“Department” means the department of labor and industrial relations.

“Director” means the director of labor and industrial relations.

“Person” means a natural or legal person.

“Professional employer agreement” means a written contract by and between a client company and a professional employer organization that:

(1) Provides for covered employees to the client company;

(2) Describes the duties and responsibilities of the client company and the professional employer organization with respect to the covered employees; and

(3) Includes a declaration by the professional employer organization of the professional employer organization’s responsibilities under § 373L-6.

“Professional employer organization” means any person that is a party to a professional employer agreement with a client company and whose covered employees perform services on a long-term, rather than temporary or project-specific basis. The term does not include temporary help services, staff leasing, or other similar arrangements.

“Temporary help services” means an arrangement by which a person recruits and hires the person’s own employees and:

(1) Finds other organizations that need the services of those employees;

(2) Assigns those employees to perform work or services for other organizations to support or supplement the other organizations’ workforces or to provide assistance in special work situations, including employee absences, skill shortages, seasonal workloads, or special assignments or projects; and

(3) Customarily attempts to reassign the employees to successive placements with other organizations at the end of each assignment.