{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-336.232","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 336.232","heading":"Definitions for KRS 336.230 to 336.250.","body":"As used in KRS 336.230 to 336.250, unless the context requires otherwise:\n(1) \"Client\" means any person who enters into a professional employer agreement with\na professional employer organization;\n(2) \"Co-employer\" means either a professional employer organization or a client;\n(3) \"Co-employment relationship\" means a relationship which is intended to be an\nongoing relationship rather than a temporary or project -specific relationship\nwherein the rights, duties, and obligations of an employer that arise out o f an\nemployment relationship have been allocated between co -employers pursuant to a\nprofessional employer agreement under KRS 336.230 to 336.250, under which:\n(a) The professional employer organization is entitled to enforce only those\nemployer rights and is subject to only those obligations specifically allocated\nto the professional employer organization by the professional employer\nagreement or KRS 336.230 to 336.250;\n(b) The client is entitled to enforce those rights, and obligated to provide and\nperform those employer obligations, allocated to the client by the professional\nemployer agreement and KRS 336.230 to 336.250; and\n(c) The client is entitled to enforce any right and obligated to perform any\nobligation of an employer not specifically obligated to  the professional\nemployer organization by the professional employer agreement or KRS\n336.230 to 336.250;\n(4) \"Covered employee\" means an individual having a co-employment relationship with\na professional employer organization and a client who meets the following criteria:\n(a) The individual has received written notice of co -employment with the\nprofessional employer organization; and\n(b) The individual's co -employment relationship is pursuant to a professional\nemployer agreement under KRS 336.230 to 336.250.\nIndividuals who are officers, directors, shareholders, partners, and managers of the\nclient will be covered employees, except to the extent the professional employer\norganization and the client have expressly agreed in the professional employer\nagreement that those individuals would not be covered employees, provided the\nindividuals meet the criteria of this subsection and act as operational managers or\nperform day-to-day operational services for the client. A covered employee shall not\nbe considered a party to the professional employer agreement;\n(5) \"Insurer\" includes every person engaged as principal and as indemnitor, surety, or\ncontractor in the business of entering into contracts of insurance as defined in KRS\n304.1-040;\n(6) \"Person\" means any indiv idual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company,\nassociation, or any other form of legally recognized entity;\n(7) \"Professional employer agreement\" means a written contract by and between a\nclient and a professional employer organization that provides for the:\n(a) Co-employment of covered employees;\n(b) Allocation of employer rights and obligations between the client and the\nprofessional employer organization with respect to the covered employees;\nand\n(c) Assumption of responsibilities required under KRS 336.230 to 336.250 by the\nclient and the professional employer organization;\n(8) (a) \"Professional employer organiza tion\" means any person engaged in the\nbusiness of providing professional employer services or conducting business\nas a staff leasing company, registered staff leasing company, employee leasing\ncompany, administrative employer, or other similar name.\n(b) The following shall not be considered to be a \"professional employer\norganization\":\n1. Persons providing temporary help services;\n2. Independent contractor arrangements by which a person assumes\nresponsibility for the product produced or service performed by  the\nperson or the person's agents and retains and exercises primary direction\nand control over the work performed by the individuals whose services\nare supplied under the arrangements; and\n3. Arrangements wherein a person, whose principal business activit y is not\nentering into professional employer arrangements and which does not\nhold itself out as a professional employer organization, shares\nemployees with a commonly owned company within the meaning of\nSection 414(b) and (c) of the Internal Revenue Code o f 1986, as\namended;\n(9) \"Professional employer organization group\" means two (2) or more professional\nemployer organizations that are majority owned or commonly controlled by the\nsame entity, parent, or controlling person or persons;\n(10) \"Professional em ployer services\" means the service of entering into a co -\nemployment relationship under KRS 336.230 to 336.250 in which all or a majority\nof the employees providing services to a client or to a division or work unit of a\nclient are covered employees;\n(11) \"Registrant\" means a professional employer organization registered under KRS\n336.230 to 336.250; and\n(12) \"Temporary help service\" means services consisting of a person:\n(a) Recruiting and hiring its own employees;\n(b) Finding other organizations that need the services of those employees;\n(c) Assigning those employees to perform work at or services for the other\norganizations to support or supplement the other organizations' workforce, or\nto provide assistance in special work situations, including but not li mited to\nemployee absences, skill shortages, seasonal workloads, or performing special\nassignments or projects; and\n(d) Customarily attempting to reassign the employees to other organizations when\nthey finish each assignment.","path":["KRS Chapter 336"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52596","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:25Z","sha256":"cffe131f40ab462693a350a6031a1efbf35ba54686c05776aa2eb5c480321851","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-336.230","next":"us-ky/krs-336.234"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}