§ 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. History: Laws 2010, LB579, § 4.