NAPS Track

A. 1068

Clarifies that information obtained by an employer or placement agency without the use of an investigative consumer reporting agency for employment reference checks, background investigations, credential verifications or employee investigations is not subject to the disclosure requirements of the employee personnel file review law. A law enacted in 2001 to prevent identity theft cast uncertainty on the exemption of background check information from the disclosure requirements.

A. 2816

Requires a staffing firm providing workers to a construction contractor to provide workers' compensation coverage for the assigned workers and requires the premium to be based on the contractor's experience rating. Makes a staffing firm the sole employer for workers' compensation purposes. Provides that existing exclusive remedy protections of the workers' compensation law will not be changed. Requires the contractor to notify the staffing firm if an assigned worker is working on a public project or if the contractor reassigned the worker to a position other than the classification to which the worker was originally assigned. The original version of the bill would have required a construction contractor to provide workers' compensation coverage for assigned staffing firm workers.

S. 311

Provides that the client in a PEO arrangement is the employer for UI purposes. Excludes temporary help firms from the bill.

S. 2734

Repeals the requirement that permanent placement agency branches be individually licensed. Exempts employer-paid agencies from the employment agency law bonding requirements.

S. 1975

Provides that fines of up to $5,000 can be imposed for each violation of the day labor law. Provides that a willful violation will be considered a misdemeanor. Changes all "day labor" terms in the law to "day and temporary labor" or "day and temporary laborer."

H. 1405

Requires a temporary nurse agency to verify that a certified nursing assistant (CNA) is listed on the Maine Registry of CNAs before hiring that CNA.

H. 5300

Require the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy to annually establish caps for rates charged by nursing pools to health care facilities, with separate class rates for services provided to nursing facilities and hospitals, and separate rates for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants. Allows rates to cover wages, payroll taxes and fringe benefits. Requires them to be based upon and prevents them from exceeding median wages, payroll taxes and fringe benefits paid to permanent medical personnel of the same type at health care facilities in the same geographic region. Allows rates to include an allowance for reasonable administrative expenses and a reasonable profit factor. Authorizes the Division to continue its exemption of fixed term employees from regulations. A fixed-term employee is a nursing pool employee that works exclusively at a particular health care facility for a period of at least 90 days. For the exemption to apply, the pool and facility must have a contract specific to the employee, and a copy of the contract must be provided to the state Department of Public Health.

S. 2095

Prohibits a staffing firm or work site employer that offers transportation to its employees from charging a fee that is more than the actual cost of the transportation, exceeds 3 percent of an employee's wages, or reduces the employee's wages below the minimum wage. Requires a firm or client to obtain written authorization from an employee before charging a transportation fee. Prohibits a firm or client from charging a fee if the use of provided transportation services is required.

S. 2459

Allows inclusion of payroll taxes in the base wages used to calculate the bill rate for temporary nurses, which can be no more than 150 percent of the weighted average wage rate for the applicable employee classification. Provides that the average wage rate used in calculating rate caps would cover the hourly rate of pay, shift differentials (including weekend shift differentials) and overtime pay. Repeals the exemption from the nurse staffing law for an agency that provides personnel only to health care facilities owned or operated by the same business that owns the agency. Requires all nurse staffing firms to carry a surety bond, provide workers' comp coverage for assigned personnel, provide the state Revenue Commissioner with the name of the bank in which the firm deposits employee income tax withholding, and provide the Revenue Commissioner with the name of any assigned personnel whose income is not subject to withholding.

L. 921

Defines PEOs for unemployment insurance purposes. Defines a "professional employer agreement" as a written contract where: (1) a PEO agrees to "provide payroll services, employee benefit administration, or personnel services for a majority of the employees" at the client's worksite; and (2) that is intended to be ongoing rather than temporary in nature.

S. 6318

Establishes a registration requirement for PEOs. Defines a professional employer agreement as a written contract under which a PEO agrees to co-employ all or a majority of the employees providing services at a client worksite. Excludes temporary help arrangements from the bill.

S. 1281

Establishes a registration requirement for PEOs. Defines "professional employer services" to mean an arrangement by which employees of a PEO are assigned to work at a client company, employment responsibilities are shared by the PEO and the client, the employee's assignment is intended to be of a long-term or continuing nature rather than temporary or seasonal in nature, and a majority of the workforce at a client company work site or a majority of the personnel of a specialized group within that workforce consists of assigned employees of the licensee. Excludes temporary employee arrangements, independent contractors, permanent placement services, managed services and payroll services from the bill.

H. 2267

Establishes rights and responsibilities for PEOs as employers, and a registration requirement for PEOs. Defines a "professional employer services" to mean the services of entering into coemployment relationships in which, except in isolated instances, all or a majority of the employees providing services to a client or to a division or work unit of the client are covered by the relationship. Excludes staffing services from the definition of professional employer services.

H. 2723

Provides that a staffing firm will not have to pay a fee for a workers' compensation background search conducted on behalf of a worker.

HR. 7918

Establishes a 13-member House commission to study the staffing industry. Provides that the commission will include a representative of Rhode Island Staffing Services Association and two temporary employees as well as representatives from other business organizations, state agencies, the legislature and organized labor. The commission is required to complete its study by March 12, 2003.

S. 2379

Requires a client in a temporary help arrangement or employee leasing arrangement to have written documentation indicating that the staffing firm or employee leasing company is providing workers' compensation coverage for the assigned employees. Provides that the client will be considered the employer for workers' comp purposes if it fails to obtain the documentation.