Important PEO Legislation Notice 2021
Dear PEO Brokers and Agents,
We were going to show another bridge picture and draw some creative metaphors about bridges and working together to create greater success, however, there is some important PEO legislation proposed that you should know about. Instead I’m including a picture of my wife and I going to Tallahassee to battle special interest groups that are attacking the PEO industry.
FL Senate Bill 820 / FL House Bill 1183: Workers’ Compensation Insurance for Employee Leasing Companies (These bills are companion bills, so they will mirror each other.)
This proposed legislation is bad for the PEO industry as it tries to put PEO’s on the hook to cover non employees with workers’ compensation without knowledge of those individuals or collection of any premium!
A contractor who fails to report all wages of all of its employees to a workers’ compensation carrier or to an employee leasing company is engaging in workers’ compensation fraud. Under existing law, the carrier for the general contractor is ultimately liable for injuries to the workers of uninsured contractors on their job sites.
This legislation considers shifting liability for workers’ compensation fraud at construction worksites from the general contractor to an employee leasing company that is not a part of the construction contract or the contractor relationship. By shifting liability to employee leasing companies, the proposed legislation would perpetuate and encourage workers’ compensation fraud. This would make the employee leasing company responsible for workers’ compensation insurance coverage for all direct employees of the subcontractor on the job site, regardless of whether any of those employees are leased.
It is important for you to reach out to your local legislator that represents you in the House and the Senate. As a PEO expert, you are in a great position to explain to them how PEO’s work and why there is no “gap in coverage” as some are proposing. It’s important to tell them how bad this bill is for you, your community, your industry, and simply bad for business.
Here are the links to the bills for your reference: Senate Bill, House Bill