§ 48-2704 — Registration required; restrictions on use of names or title; application; contents; initial registration; when required; limited registration application; interim operating permit; registration renewal; limited registration; eligibility; department; maintain list of registrants; department; powers and duties; confidentiality

(1) A person engaged in the business of
providing professional employer services pursuant to co-employment relationships
in which all or a majority of the employees of a client are covered employees
shall be registered under the Professional Employer Organization Registration
Act.
(2) A person
who is not registered under the Professional Employer Organization Registration
Act shall not offer or provide professional employer services in this state
and shall not use the names PEO, professional employer organization, staff
leasing company, employee leasing company, administrative employer, or any
other name or title representing professional employer services.
(3) Each applicant
for registration under the act shall provide the department with the following
information:
(a) The name or names under which the professional employer organization
conducts business;
(b) The address of the principal place of business of the professional
employer organization and the address of each office it maintains in this
state;
(c) The professional employer organization's taxpayer or employer
identification number;
(d) A list by jurisdiction of each name under which the professional
employer organization has operated in the preceding five years, including
any alternative names, names of predecessors and, if known, successor business
entities;
(e) A statement of ownership, which shall include the name and evidence
of the business experience of any person that, individually or acting in concert
with one or more other persons, owns or controls, directly or indirectly,
twenty-five percent or more of the equity interest of the professional employer
organization;
(f) A statement of management, which shall include the name and
evidence of the business experience of any individual who serves as president
or chief executive officer or otherwise has the authority to act as senior
executive officer of the professional employer organization; and
(g) A financial
statement setting forth the financial condition of the professional employer
organization or professional employer organization group. At the time of initial
registration, the applicant shall submit the most recent audit of the applicant,
which audit may not be older than thirteen months. Thereafter, a professional
employer organization or professional employer organization group shall file
on an annual basis, within one hundred eighty days after the end of the professional
employer organization's fiscal year, a succeeding audit. An applicant may
apply for an extension with the department, but any such request shall be
accompanied by a letter from the auditor stating the reasons for the delay
and the anticipated audit completion date.
The financial statement shall be prepared
in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and audited by
an independent certified public accountant licensed to practice in the jurisdiction
in which such accountant is located and shall be without qualification as
to the going concern status of the professional employer organization. A professional
employer organization group may submit combined or consolidated financial
statements to meet the requirements of this section. A professional employer
organization that has not had sufficient operating history to have audited
financial statements based upon at least twelve months of operating history
shall meet the financial responsibility requirements of section 48-2705 and
present financial statements reviewed by a certified public accountant.
(4)(a) Each
professional employer organization operating within this state as of January
1, 2012, shall complete its initial registration not later than one hundred
eighty days after January 1, 2012. Such initial registration shall be valid
until one hundred eighty days from the end of the professional employer organization's
first fiscal year that is more than one year after January 1, 2012.
(b) Each professional
employer organization not operating within this state as of January 1, 2012,
shall complete its initial registration prior to initiating operations within
this state. If a professional employer organization not registered in this
state becomes aware that an existing client not based in this state has employees
and operations in this state, the professional employer organization shall
either decline to provide professional employer services for those employees
or notify the department within five business days of its knowledge of this
fact and file a limited registration application under subsection (7) of this
section or a full registration if there are more than fifty covered employees.
The department may issue an interim operating permit for the period the registration
application is pending if the professional employer organization is currently
registered or licensed by another state and the department determines it to
be in the best interests of the potential covered employees.
(5) Within
one hundred eighty days after the end of a registrant's fiscal year, such
registrant shall renew its registration by notifying the department of any
changes in the information provided in such registrant's most recent registration
or renewal. A registrant's existing registration shall remain in effect during
the pendency of a renewal application.
(6) Professional employer organizations
in a professional employer organization group may satisfy any reporting and
financial requirements of the Professional Employer Organization Registration
Act on a combined or consolidated basis if each member of the professional
employer organization group guarantees the financial capacity obligations
under the act of each other member of the professional employer organization
group. If a professional employer organization group submits a combined or
consolidated audited financial statement including entities that are not professional
employer organizations or that are not in the professional employer organization
group, the controlling entity of the professional employer organization group
under the consolidated or combined statement shall guarantee the obligations
of the professional employer organizations in the professional employer organization
group.
(7)(a) A professional employer organization is eligible for a limited
registration under the act if such professional employer organization:
(i) Submits
a properly executed request for limited registration on a form provided by
the department;
(ii) Is domiciled outside this state and is licensed or registered
as a professional employer organization in another state;
(iii) Does
not maintain an office in this state or directly solicit clients located or
domiciled within this state; and
(iv) Does not have more than fifty covered
employees employed or domiciled in this state on any given day.
(b) A limited
registration is valid for one year and may be renewed.
(c) A professional
employer organization seeking limited registration under this section shall
provide the department with information and documentation necessary to show
that the professional employer organization qualifies for a limited registration.
(d) Section 48-2705 does not apply to applicants for limited registration.
(8) The department
shall maintain a list of professional employer organizations registered under
the act that is readily available to the public by electronic or other means.
(9) The department
may prescribe forms necessary to promote the efficient administration of this
section.
(10) The department shall, to the extent practical, permit by rule
and regulation the acceptance of electronic filings, including applications,
documents, reports, and other filings required by the department. Such rule
and regulation may provide for the acceptance of electronic filings and other
assurance by an independent and qualified entity approved by the department
that provides satisfactory assurance of compliance acceptable to the department
consistent with or in lieu of the requirements of this section and section 48-2705 . Such rule and regulation shall permit a professional employer organization
to authorize the entity approved by the department to act on the professional
employer organization's behalf in complying with the registration requirements
of the act, including electronic filings of information and payment of registration
fees. Use of such an approved entity shall be optional and not mandatory for
a registrant. Nothing in this subsection shall limit or change the department's
authority to register or terminate registration of a professional employer
organization or to investigate or enforce any provision of the act.
(11) All records,
reports, and other information obtained from a professional employer organization
under the act, except to the extent necessary for the proper administration
of the act by the department, shall be confidential and shall not be published
or open to public inspection other than to public employees in the performance
of their public duties.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 2010, LB579, § 4.