Employer of record in New Hampshire: PEO rules, payroll registration and what the client still owns (2026)

New Hampshire's law does not use the term "employer of record." It licenses employee leasing companies, the PEO model: as of October 2026, RSA 277-B requires a license from the Commissioner of Labor before anyone engages in employee leasing, with $100,000 in working capital and a $500 annual fee, and the commissioner may fine a client company that does business with an unlicensed leasing company up to $1,000 per employee per day. A licensed company and its client are "deemed co-employers," with the statute dividing the duties: the leasing company pays wages and handles payroll taxes and unemployment, and the client directs the work and answers for wage and hour, safety and discrimination compliance.

This page is for a company outside New Hampshire, or a staffing firm, deciding whether to employ someone in New Hampshire through an employer of record (EOR) or PEO, or to register itself. The general difference between an EOR, a PEO, a staffing agency and payrolling is in what is an employer of record and payrolling services explained. The licensing fees, financial assurance and the town-level "intelligence office" law are in staffing agency license in New Hampshire, and the state checklist is in hiring employees in New Hampshire. This page adds how RSA 277-B splits the employer's duties, the 2026 change to workers' compensation, and what stays with you.

New Hampshire employer of record and PEO rules at a glance

Does New Hampshire license employer of record companies or PEOs?

It licenses employee leasing companies, and the definition is broad. Under RSA 277-B:2, an employee leasing arrangement is a written contract under which a leasing company assigns an individual, "including an individual who was previously employed by the client company," to perform services for the client, and the arrangement "is intended to be, or is, on-going rather than temporary in nature, and not aimed at temporarily supplementing the work force." A leasing company also includes anyone who "regularly provides services of a nature customarily understood to be employer responsibilities," such as health, workers' compensation or retirement plans, "in the name of an entity other than the company on site where the employees provide services." Most EOR contracts fit one prong or the other.

RSA 277-B:12, I says no person may engage in employee leasing "nor hold itself out to the public as an employee leasing company without first having secured a license." Beyond the fees and the $100,000 working capital test already covered in our New Hampshire staffing license guide, the chapter adds:

• Home-state license first. A company not domiciled in New Hampshire must first be licensed where it is domiciled, if that state licenses leasing companies, and pays New Hampshire's fees or its home state's, whichever are greater (277-B:5, II).
• Restricted license. Available only if the home state offers New Hampshire companies substantially the same terms, the company has no New Hampshire office, sales force or solicitation, and it has no more than 100 leased employees working in the state (277-B:5, III).
• Ongoing reporting. A CPA's certification within 60 days after each quarter that all federal and state payroll taxes were paid on time (277-B:6, III); a client list kept current and filed quarterly (277-B:15-a); and notice to the Commissioner of Employment Security and the Commissioner of Labor of every new and terminated client within 20 business days (277-B:9, III).
• No temp desk in the same entity. Each application certifies that the company does not run a temporary help service through the same entity and does not commingle the two (277-B:5, VI).

The Department of Labor's rules in Lab 1500 add the application details, including a copy of the employee manual given to leased workers. The license applications and client lists are confidential under 277-B:15-a, so ask the provider for its license and confirm it with the Department of Labor before you sign.

What if the provider calls itself an employer of record but holds no leasing license?

The only statutory way out is temporary help service: "a service whereby an organization hires its own employees and assigns them to clients to support or supplement the client work force in special work situations such as employee absences, temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads, and special assignments and projects" (277-B:2, VI; 277-B:4). A provider that employs one person you chose, for a permanent role you direct, is hard to fit into that description. The risk is yours as well as the provider's: 277-B:12, III lets the commissioner fine "Any client company which does business with an unlicensed employee leasing company" up to $1,000 per employee for each day the violation continues. Workers' compensation is the other trap, because 277-B:5, IV says "No unlicensed leasing company shall be provided workers' compensation coverage."

Who pays New Hampshire unemployment tax on an EOR or PEO worker?

The leasing company. RSA 277-B:9, I makes it "solely responsible" for paying wages, issuing W-2s, "Calculating, collecting, and remitting all payroll taxes," and "Complying with state and federal unemployment compensation requirements, including the reporting of wages paid, making required contributions, and processing claims for benefits on a timely basis." Two protections back that up:

• Young leasing companies. Until a leasing company has been in business for two years, "a client company shall be jointly and severally liable with the employee leasing company for the payment of unemployment contributions" (277-B:17, I). Ask how long the provider has operated.
• Late payers. A leasing company found to have failed without justification to pay contributions must post a bond, and its license is suspended if it does not do so within five working days (277-B:17, II).

Unpaid unemployment contributions, wages or federal withholding are also grounds to refuse or revoke a license (277-B:7). The statute does not say whether wages are reported under the leasing company's New Hampshire Employment Security account or the client's; ask the provider and, if you have direct employees too, file your own Employer Status Report with NHES within 30 days of providing employment.

Who carries workers' compensation in New Hampshire?

This changed in 2026. Laws of 2026, chapter 146, effective August 11, 2026, added RSA 277-B:9, II-a: "The parties to the co-employment relationship may elect for the client company to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage to leased employees," every leasing contract must say which party secures and maintains it, and "regardless of election, workers' compensation insurance coverage must be in place for all leased employees." If the client carries it, the client tells its employees it is the employer providing coverage, in the manner the commissioner sets, and the leasing company gives the commissioner the client's carrier, policy number and dates within 30 days of the election. A client that elects coverage and fails to secure it faces the penalties of RSA 281-A:7 (277-B:12, VI).

When the leasing company carries it, the older rules still apply: coverage through no more than two policies, each client's employees on one carrier identified by client name and federal ID; carriers must send the commissioner certificates and give 30 days' notice before cancelling, and the commissioner then notifies the clients and revokes the license (277-B:5, IV; 277-B:11-a). When you leave, your claims data is assigned to you for pricing your next policy. Both parties keep the exclusive remedy of RSA 281-A:8 "regardless of which entity purchases the workers' compensation insurance" (277-B:10). Coverage is required from the first employee in New Hampshire, as the New Hampshire hiring checklist explains, and you remain responsible for anyone not placed through the leasing arrangement (277-B:11-a, IV).

Which New Hampshire registrations, reports and notices still apply?

• No wage withholding. New Hampshire does not tax wages, and the Interest and Dividends Tax ended for periods from 2025, per the Department of Revenue Administration.
• Business Enterprise Tax. The leasing company pays the tax under RSA 77-E and counts leased employees' wages in its own compensation base, unless the parties elect otherwise under RSA 77-E:13-a (277-B:9, I(h)). That election also decides whether the leased employees count as yours for state tax credits (277-B:17-a).
• New-hire reporting. Within 20 days, to NHES, under RSA 282-A:117-a.
• Pay notice. Written notice of the rate of pay, payday and place of payment at hire, under RSA 275:49.
• Employee manual and grievances. The leasing company gives each employee a manual on the terms of employment with it and runs a grievance system (277-B:9, I(i)-(j)).
• E-Verify. Not required in New Hampshire; see E-Verify requirements in New Hampshire.
• Paid family leave. The Granite State Paid Family Leave plan is offered to private employers "on a voluntary basis" (RSA 21-I:100); there is no mandatory payroll contribution to register for.

What does the client company still own in New Hampshire?

More than in most states, because RSA 277-B:9, II lists it. The client is "solely responsible" for directing and controlling the leased employees, for its goods and services, for the employees' acts within its business, and for:

• Wage and hour compliance. "Complying with all wage and hour laws, including recordkeeping requirements and determinations of exempt and non-exempt status," and giving the leasing company and the Department of Labor accurate hours and pay records on request. If the job is misclassified as exempt, that is your problem, not the PEO's.
• Safety. "Providing a safe workplace" under OSHA and similar laws.
• Discrimination. "Complying with all laws prohibiting employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation." That starts with the hiring process you run: New Hampshire requires every party's consent to record an interview (see New Hampshire recording consent law for interviews), and background checks follow New Hampshire background check laws.
• Licenses and outside pay. Professional licenses and bonding for your business, and all payroll taxes and insurance costs on pay you give leased employees outside the leasing arrangement.
• Insurance. Leased employees stay your employees for your general liability, auto, bond and employer's liability policies, and are not the PEO's for its policies unless named (277-B:11, III).
• Restrictive covenants and joint claims. See New Hampshire non-compete law and joint employer liability for staffing agencies; fines for labor law violations go to whichever party controlled the worksite and was responsible (277-B:12, IV).
• Federal payroll taxes. The IRS says the client "generally remains responsible" for employment taxes unless the PEO is IRS-certified; see the CPEO public listings.

When is registering your own company in New Hampshire the better route?

• You already carry the main duties. With no wage withholding, your own setup is an NHES account, workers' compensation from the first employee, 20-day new-hire reports and the RSA 275:49 notice, while the statute leaves wage and hour, safety and discrimination compliance with you either way.
• The provider cannot show a New Hampshire license. Using it exposes you to the per-employee, per-day client fine.
• The work is a short project. A temporary help service is excluded from the chapter and may fit better.
• The leasing company is under two years old. You would share its unemployment contribution liability anyway.

Questions to ask an employer of record or PEO before signing for New Hampshire

1. Do you hold a New Hampshire employee leasing license or a restricted license, and when does it expire?
2. Are you licensed in your home state, and how long have you been in business?
3. Does our contract say who secures workers' compensation under RSA 277-B:9, II-a, and can we see the policy?
4. Have you notified the Department of Labor and NHES of our engagement within 20 business days?
5. Whose NHES account will our wages be reported under?
6. Will you include our employees' wages in your Business Enterprise Tax base, or will we make the RSA 77-E:13-a election?
7. Who reports the hire within 20 days and gives the RSA 275:49 pay notice?
8. Who decides exempt or non-exempt status, given that the statute puts it on us?
9. Are you an IRS-certified PEO, and who is liable for federal employment taxes if you miss a payment?
10. What happens to our claims data, records and the worker if we end the contract?

Employer of record rules in other states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas.