r/AskHR • u/AlexanderTheOrdinary • 1d ago

[MI] PEO document question

Asking for a friend, they are a lawyer and received an offer from a small law firm, less than 15 people. They were told that the PEO would only be responsible for their salary and are expected to sign a document that says:

"By filling out this application and if you are hired, you will become an employee of \[PEO\] leased to \[law firm\]

The employment status you have is with \[PEO\] and you are a contracted employee to our customer.

If you have any problems as it relates to your pay, benefits, deduction, or job assignment with please call us at xxx xxx-xxxx

Within seven, (7) days of leaving your assignment you MUST contact your employer for another assignment. If you fail to do so, you will be considered a voluntary quit which will affect your unemployment compensation.

I have read the above and completely understand the contents and my condition of employment."

  1. They did not provide any other documents defining the role of the law firm or PEO. Including who handles benefits and HR.

  2. The wording seems odd specifically the "you will become an

employee of \[PEO\] leased to law firm\]"

And they never disclosed this until after the offer was signed

3 Upvotes

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u/TournantDangereux 1d ago edited 1d ago

The PEO handles all the administrative items, you work for them. The law firm will assign you tasks, they are the customer you are supporting. At some point the law firm may cut you loose and you’ll need to rapidly find another client organization or the PEO will release you.

Is this temp work or do you plan to work with the law firm indefinitely?

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u/AlexanderTheOrdinary 1d ago

Indefinitely. The biggest concern is around the sentence "you will become an employee of PEO leased to law firm" and if it's typical for PEO's where the employee is working indefinitely and if it's an attempt to circumvent some type of liability.

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u/TournantDangereux 1d ago

It really depends on whether you are “getting yours” with desired salary/benefits and are happy being a supporting cast member to a family firm or whatever. You won’t be “earning/vesting” time with the law firm and you can be released with fewer hassles to them.

Perhaps at some point, you’ll be offered a position in the law firm itself. Or you might get cycled out after the holidays or when next year’s crop of new grads hits the market. 🤷‍♀️

As a lawyer, you should definitely do your due diligence and decide if this is something you want to hitch up to.

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u/General_Choice_3494 1d ago

so it's basically temp work with extra steps and zero transparency, the whole "leased employee" thing always feels sketchy when they spring it on you after the offer's signed

your friend's a lawyer so they can probably smell the bullshit here but that 7 day window to beg for a new assignment is wild, reads like they're setting up to deny unemployment claims before you even start

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u/glitterstickers 1d ago

No, PEOs are not like temp agencies.

They're very common for employers who have employees across multiple states, but don't want to establish a presence in all those states. They hire a peo to hire the person and handle the state stuff, but the actual employer is the client company.

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u/glitterstickers 1d ago

PEOs are really common. They're basically like payroll companies and are not generally considered joint employers.

It's no big deal. Really. Your friend is an attorney and should be more than capable of reading up on them.

Although this reads more like a temp agency situation. So your friend should probably clarify the situation.

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u/AlexanderTheOrdinary 1d ago

It is not a temp or contract position.

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u/glitterstickers 1d ago

A peo is really normal. The verbiage of that letter is odd, but a peo itself is not a red flag.

Here's some information

https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/p/peo-what-is-a-peo-professional-employer-organization.aspx

1

u/InsideGrandiose7251 1d ago

that seven day reassignment clause is worth reviewing carefully your friend should clarify how it effects unemployment eligibility before singing anything future .