Section 916. Definitions

As used in this article:
    1.  "Client"  means  a  person who enters into a professional employer
  agreement with a professional employer organization.
    2. "Person" means an individual, an association, a company, a firm,  a
  partnership,  a  corporation,  or  any  other form of legally recognized
  entity.
    3. "Professional employer agreement" means a written contract whereby:
    (a) A professional employer organization expressly agrees to co-employ
  all or a majority of the employees providing services for the client;
    (b) The contract is intended to be on-going rather than  temporary  in
  nature;
    (c)  Employer responsibilities for worksite employees, including those
  of hiring, firing and  disciplining,  are  expressly  allocated  by  and
  between  the  professional  employer  organization and the client in the
  agreement; and
    (d) The  professional  employer  organization  expressly  assumes  the
  rights   and  responsibilities  as  required  in  section  nine  hundred
  twenty-two of this article.
    4.  "Professional  employer  organization"  means  any  person   whose
  business is entering into professional employer agreements with clients.
  In  determining  whether  the professional employer organization employs
  all or a majority of the employees of  a  client,  any  person  employed
  pursuant  to  the terms of the professional employer agreement after the
  initial placement of client employees on the payroll of the professional
  employer organization  shall  be  included.  Temporary  help  firms  and
  employment  agencies,  as  defined  in  article  eleven  of  the general
  business  law,  shall  not  be  deemed  to  be   professional   employer
  organizations for purposes of this article.
    5. "Temporary help firm" means a business which recruits and hires its
  own  employees,  and  assigns  those  employees  to  perform  work at or
  services for other organizations, to support  or  supplement  the  other
  organization's  workforce,  or  to  provide  assistance  in special work
  situations such  as,  but  not  limited  to,  employee  absences,  skill
  shortages,  seasonal  workloads,  or  to  perform special assignments or
  projects. A temporary help firm shall not be deemed to be a professional
  employer organization for the purposes of this article.
    6.  "Worksite  employee"  means  a   person   having   an   employment
  relationship  with  both  the professional employer organization and the
  client. Such term may also include  the  client's  officers,  directors,
  shareholders  or  partners to the extent such persons act as operational
  managers or perform services for the client.