48-2704 Registration required; restrictions on use of names or title; application; contents; initial registration; when required; limited registration application; interim operating permit; registrati - Nebraska Statutes

48-2704. Registration required; restrictionson use of names or title; application; contents; initial registration; whenrequired; limited registration application; interim operating permit; registrationrenewal; limited registration; eligibility; department; maintain list of registrants;department; powers and duties; confidentiality.(1) A person engaged in the business ofproviding professional employer services pursuant to co-employment relationshipsin which all or a majority of the employees of a client are covered employeesshall be registered under the Professional Employer Organization RegistrationAct.(2) A personwho is not registered under the Professional Employer Organization RegistrationAct shall not offer or provide professional employer services in this stateand shall not use the names PEO, professional employer organization, staffleasing company, employee leasing company, administrative employer, or anyother name or title representing professional employer services.(3) Each applicantfor registration under the act shall provide the department with the followinginformation:(a) The name or names under which the professional employer organizationconducts business;(b) The address of the principal place of business of the professionalemployer organization and the address of each office it maintains in thisstate;(c) The professional employer organization's taxpayer or employeridentification number;(d) A list by jurisdiction of each name under which the professionalemployer organization has operated in the preceding five years, includingany alternative names, names of predecessors and, if known, successor businessentities;(e) A statement of ownership, which shall include the name and evidenceof the business experience of any person that, individually or acting in concertwith one or more other persons, owns or controls, directly or indirectly,twenty-five percent or more of the equity interest of the professional employerorganization;(f) A statement of management, which shall include the name andevidence of the business experience of any individual who serves as presidentor chief executive officer or otherwise has the authority to act as seniorexecutive officer of the professional employer organization; and(g) A financialstatement setting forth the financial condition of the professional employerorganization or professional employer organization group. At the time of initialregistration, the applicant shall submit the most recent audit of the applicant,which audit may not be older than thirteen months. Thereafter, a professionalemployer organization or professional employer organization group shall fileon an annual basis, within one hundred eighty days after the end of the professionalemployer organization's fiscal year, a succeeding audit. An applicant mayapply for an extension with the department, but any such request shall beaccompanied by a letter from the auditor stating the reasons for the delayand the anticipated audit completion date.The financial statement shall be preparedin accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and audited byan independent certified public accountant licensed to practice in the jurisdictionin which such accountant is located and shall be without qualification asto the going concern status of the professional employer organization. A professionalemployer organization group may submit combined or consolidated financialstatements to meet the requirements of this section. A professional employerorganization that has not had sufficient operating history to have auditedfinancial statements based upon at least twelve months of operating historyshall meet the financial responsibility requirements of section 48-2705 andpresent financial statements reviewed by a certified public accountant.(4)(a) Eachprofessional employer organization operating within this state as of January1, 2012, shall complete its initial registration not later than one hundredeighty days after January 1, 2012. Such initial registration shall be validuntil one hundred eighty days from the end of the professional employer organization'sfirst fiscal year that is more than one year after January 1, 2012.(b) Each professionalemployer organization not operating within this state as of January 1, 2012,shall complete its initial registration prior to initiating operations withinthis state. If a professional employer organization not registered in thisstate becomes aware that an existing client not based in this state has employeesand operations in this state, the professional employer organization shalleither decline to provide professional employer services for those employeesor notify the department within five business days of its knowledge of thisfact and file a limited registration application under subsection (7) of thissection or a full registration if there are more than fifty covered employees.The department may issue an interim operating permit for the period the registrationapplication is pending if the professional employer organization is currentlyregistered or licensed by another state and the department determines it tobe in the best interests of the potential covered employees.(5) Withinone hundred eighty days after the end of a registrant's fiscal year, suchregistrant shall renew its registration by notifying the department of anychanges in the information provided in such registrant's most recent registrationor renewal. A registrant's existing registration shall remain in effect duringthe pendency of a renewal application.(6) Professional employer organizationsin a professional employer organization group may satisfy any reporting andfinancial requirements of the Professional Employer Organization RegistrationAct on a combined or consolidated basis if each member of the professionalemployer organization group guarantees the financial capacity obligationsunder the act of each other member of the professional employer organizationgroup. If a professional employer organization group submits a combined orconsolidated audited financial statement including entities that are not professionalemployer organizations or that are not in the professional employer organizationgroup, the controlling entity of the professional employer organization groupunder the consolidated or combined statement shall guarantee the obligationsof the professional employer organizations in the professional employer organizationgroup.(7)(a) A professional employer organization is eligible for a limitedregistration under the act if such professional employer organization:(i) Submitsa properly executed request for limited registration on a form provided bythe department;(ii) Is domiciled outside this state and is licensed or registeredas a professional employer organization in another state;(iii) Doesnot maintain an office in this state or directly solicit clients located ordomiciled within this state; and(iv) Does not have more than fifty coveredemployees employed or domiciled in this state on any given day.(b) A limitedregistration is valid for one year and may be renewed.(c) A professionalemployer organization seeking limited registration under this section shallprovide the department with information and documentation necessary to showthat the professional employer organization qualifies for a limited registration.(d) Section 48-2705 does not apply to applicants for limited registration.(8) The departmentshall maintain a list of professional employer organizations registered underthe act that is readily available to the public by electronic or other means.(9) The departmentmay prescribe forms necessary to promote the efficient administration of thissection.(10) The department shall, to the extent practical, permit by ruleand regulation the acceptance of electronic filings, including applications,documents, reports, and other filings required by the department. Such ruleand regulation may provide for the acceptance of electronic filings and otherassurance by an independent and qualified entity approved by the departmentthat provides satisfactory assurance of compliance acceptable to the departmentconsistent with or in lieu of the requirements of this section and section 48-2705. Such rule and regulation shall permit a professional employer organizationto authorize the entity approved by the department to act on the professionalemployer organization's behalf in complying with the registration requirementsof the act, including electronic filings of information and payment of registrationfees. Use of such an approved entity shall be optional and not mandatory fora registrant. Nothing in this subsection shall limit or change the department'sauthority to register or terminate registration of a professional employerorganization or to investigate or enforce any provision of the act.(11) All records,reports, and other information obtained from a professional employer organizationunder the act, except to the extent necessary for the proper administrationof the act by the department, shall be confidential and shall not be publishedor open to public inspection other than to public employees in the performanceof their public duties. SourceLaws 2010, LB579, § 4.Operative Date: January 1, 2012