(a)  A client and a PEO shall each be deemed an employer for purposes of sponsoring retirement and welfare benefit plans for its covered employees.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-75-8

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Client: means any person who enters into a professional employer agreement with a PEO. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-75-2
  • PEO: means any person engaged in the business of providing professional employer services. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-75-2
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC

(b)  A fully-insured welfare benefit plan offered to the covered employees of a single PEO shall be considered a single-employer welfare benefit plan.

(c)  For purposes of determining employer status under chapter 50 of Title 27 (entitled the Rhode Island Small Employer Health Insurance Availability Act), a PEO shall be considered the employer of all of its covered employees and all covered employees of one or more clients participating in a health benefit plan sponsored by a single PEO shall be considered employees of the PEO.

(d)  If a PEO offers to its covered employees any health benefit plan that is not fully-insured by an authorized insurer, the plan shall:

(1)  Utilize a third-party administrator licensed to do business in this state;

(2)  Hold all plan assets, including participant contributions, in a trust account; and

(3)  Provide sound reserves for such plan as determined using generally accepted actuarial standards.

History of Section.
P.L. 2004, ch. 87, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 124, § 1.