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Senate Bill 1286 |
Senate Author: Williams |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Hunter |
Senate Bill 1286 amends the Labor Code and the Tax Code to make statutory provisions governing the regulation of staff leasing services apply to professional employer services, defined as services provided through coemployment relationships in which all or a majority of the employees providing services to a client or to a division or work unit of a client are covered employees. The bill sets out provisions relating to the nature and terms of a coemployment relationship, establishes requirements for consideration as a covered employee, and clarifies that an executive employee of the client is a covered employee, except to the extent the professional employer organization and the client expressly agree in the professional employer services agreement that the individual is not a covered employee. The bill establishes that a holder of a professional employer organization license and a client of the licensed organization are each considered an employer under state law for purposes of sponsoring retirement and welfare benefit plans for covered employees and sets out provisions relating to a single welfare benefit plan under which eligible covered employees of one or more clients may elect to participate. The bill authorizes a licensed organization to sponsor a benefit plan that is not fully insured if the organization meets certain requirements and is approved to sponsor the plan by the commissioner of insurance. The bill sets out the commissioner's powers with respect to the regulation of plans, including adopting rules that include all requirements to be met by the licensed organization and the plan, issuing orders, and taking certain actions against a noncompliant plan.
Senate Bill 1286 extends a licensed organization's authority to elect to obtain workers' compensation insurance coverage for covered employees to a client and requires the client and organization to specify in the professional employer services agreement whether the parties have made that election and which party must maintain the coverage. The bill makes certain provisions of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act apply to a client or licensed organization regardless of whether the client or organization elects to obtain the coverage and sets out provisions relating to the calculation of workers' compensation insurance premiums paid by a client or licensed organization. The bill requires the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation to adopt any rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions.