PEOs

A have a couple of questions related to PEOs that I hoping to get assistance on:

1.  Can the owner of a company and all of his employees be considered a common law employee of the PEO organization that is then a leased employee of the company?

2.  Can the company adopt its own retirement plan?  If so, are there any issues with this?  I assume it would depend on whether the PEO organization currently sponsors a retirement plan and what the agreement between that company and the PEO currently states, correct?

Thank you!

1.  Essentially Yes

2.  Yes

I will speak to a DC plan only.  There are a lot of ways that an employer can offer a retirement plan when a PEO is present and with limited information, I can't answer the question specifically.  However, the PEO could sponsor a plan and then each "child" company could sign onto the plan, usually with a joinder agreement, specifying its own provisions.  It is still possible for the "child" company to sponsor its own plan, but that comes with its own issues.  

If the leasing company has its own plan, the "child" company should contact the service provider for that plan for more information.

Anybody in this business and especially dealing with the issues of Who's The Employer (and with PEOs that is a BIG question) needs to own a subscription to Who's The Employer  Here is the link:

http://www.employerbook.com/

This is written by our own Derrin Watson and, full disclosure, I had a hand in the original drafts and marketing when Derrin was one of my partners in the fabled PIX (Pension Information Exchange) at the early days of the internet.

Thank you both.  I know the book and the person.  I have thought many times about buying the book and never pulled the trigger.  I know I should....thanks for the reminder.