WAC 192-300-210   What requirements apply to professional employer organizations and client employers?  (1) Both professional employer organizations and client employers must comply with all applicable state laws. Professional employment agreements may not allocate rights and obligations between professional employer organizations and client employers other than in compliance with state law.

     (2) Professional employer organizations must file a master business application with the state. They must register with the department under RCW 50.12.070 and obtain an employer reference number issued by the department (employment security number). This applies to professional employer organizations that have their own employees in this state and to professional employer organizations that have client employers who do business or have employees in this state.

     (3) Professional employer organizations must ensure that their client employers are registered with the department under RCW 50.12.070. Professional employer organizations may only file papers to register the client employer if they also have filed with the department a power of attorney form signed by an authorized representative of the client employer.

     (4) In order to represent a client employer to the department, a professional employer organization must file with the department a power of attorney in a form acceptable to the department. The signed power of attorney form may be sent by fax or in other electronic form acceptable to the department. The department will acknowledge receipt of the power of attorney to the sender and will send a letter to the client employer confirming that the professional employer organization is authorized to represent it to the department.

     (5)(a) Professional employer organizations shall provide the department with the following information for client employers: Names, addresses, unified business identifier numbers, employment security numbers, names and Social Security numbers of corporate officers, owners and partners (if not a corporation or limited liability company), or limited liability company members, effective date the relationship between the professional employer organization and client employer began, and a business location in Washington state where payroll and business records for the client employer will be made available for review or inspection when requested by the department.

     Information is due:

     (i) By September 1, 2007, for all then existing client employers;

     (ii) Within thirty days for any client employer registering with the department for the first time; and

     (iii) Within thirty days of the effective date whenever the professional employer organization and a client employer enter a professional employer agreement.

     (b) Professional employer organizations shall notify the department within thirty days of the termination of a relationship with a client employer. The notice shall include the name, address, unified business identifier number, employment security number, effective date, and contact information for the client employer.

     (c) The department shall provide forms for the information required in this subsection. The department may require professional employer organizations to submit the information in an electronic format.

     (6) Professional employer organizations shall maintain accurate payroll records for each client employer and make them available for review and inspection at a business location in Washington state when requested by the department. The location may vary for different client employers. Appropriate department facilities may be used for this purpose with the consent of the department. The department may require client employers or professional employer organizations to produce other business and financial records at an in-state location in the same manner it requires other employers to do so under WAC 192-310-050.

     (7) Professional employer organizations shall file quarterly tax and wage reports for client employers they represent in a format specified by the department. Reports shall contain separate and distinct information for each client employer, regardless of the format used. Professional employer organizations may file a single electronic report for multiple client employers, separate paper or electronic reports for individual client employers, or a combination of electronic and paper filing.

     (8) The department shall provide an electronic system for filing quarterly tax and wage reports which allows a professional employer organization to make payments when filing for multiple client employers with a single payment for those employers.

     (9) If the professional employer organization files separate quarterly tax and wage reports for individual client employers, it shall make separate payments for each employer.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040. 07-23-130, § 192-300-210, filed 11/21/07, effective 1/1/08.]