North Dakota § 43-55-02 - Rights, duties, and obligations unaffected

§ 43-55-02. Rights, duties, and obligations unaffected

1. Neither this chapter nor a professional employer agreement may affect, modify, or amend a collective bargaining agreement or any right or obligation of a client, professional employer organization, or covered employee under federal law. 2. Neither this chapter nor a professional employer agreement may: a. Diminish, abolish, or remove any right of a covered employee to a client or obligation of the client to a covered employee existing before the effective date of the professional employer agreement. b. Affect, modify, or amend any contractual relationship or restrictive covenant between a covered employee and a client in effect at the time a professional employer agreement becomes effective or prohibit or amend a contractual relationship or restrictive covenant that is entered subsequently between a client and a covered employee. 3. A covered employee who is required under law to be licensed, registered, or certified is deemed solely an employee of the client for purposes of the license, registration, or certification requirement. 4. Unless otherwise provided by this chapter, a professional employer organization is not deemed to engage in any occupation, trade, profession, or other activity that is subject to licensing, registration, or certification requirements or is otherwise regulated solely by entering and maintaining a coemployment relationship with a covered employee who is subject to the requirement. 5. A client has the sole right of direction and control of the professional or licensed activities of a covered employee and of the client's business. The covered employee and client remain subject to regulation by the entity responsible for licensing, registration, or certification of the covered employee or client. 6. For purposes of determination of a tax credit or other economic incentive based on employment, a covered employee is deemed an employee solely of the client. A client is entitled to the benefit of any tax credit, economic incentive, or other benefit arising as the result of the employment of a covered employee of the client. If the grant or amount of the incentive is based on the number of employees, each client must be treated as employing only those covered employees coemployed by the client. A covered employee working for another client of the professional employer organization may not be counted. Each professional employer organization shall provide, upon request by a client or an agency or department of the state, employment information reasonably required for administration of the tax credit or economic incentive and which is necessary to support any request, claim, application, or other action by a client seeking the tax credit or economic incentive. 7. With respect to a bid, contract, purchase order, or agreement entered with the state or a political subdivision, a client company's status or certification by any agency of this state as a small, minority-owned, disadvantaged, or woman-owned business enterprise or as a historically underutilized business is not affected because the client company has entered an agreement with a professional employer organization or uses the services of a professional employer organization.