Staffing agency license in Delaware: repealed in 1995, what applies now

Delaware does not license employment agencies, staffing firms or search firms. It used to, through a $100 state license renewed every two years, but the General Assembly struck that section in 1995 and it now reads "Reserved." What a Delaware staffing firm deals with instead is the state's general business license and gross receipts tax, an unemployment rule written specifically for temporary help firms, and, for anyone supplying staff to long-term care facilities, a separate registration with the state health department.

This page covers the repeal, the Division of Revenue license that does apply, the employer accounts, and the long-term care staffing registration. For a comparison with states that still license agencies, see employment agency license requirements.

The license that was repealed

The last version of Delaware's employment agency license came from a 1986 amendment, which rewrote 19 Del. C. § 3155 to require the Division of Business and Occupational Regulation to "cause employment agencies being operated for profit within the State to take out a state license renewable biennially costing $100."

House Bill 107 of the 138th General Assembly, "relating to the regulation of private employment agencies," was approved July 17, 1995 as Chapter 242. It struck § 3155 in its entirety, along with related provisions in Title 29. In the current Title 19, § 3155 is marked "Reserved," and no employment agency licensing chapter appears anywhere in the title.

What remains in Title 19 is anti-discrimination law, not licensing:

• 19 Del. C. § 710 defines an employment agency, for discrimination purposes, as any person regularly undertaking, with or without compensation, to procure employees for an employer or work for employees.
• § 711 bars an employment agency from refusing to refer, or otherwise discriminating against, anyone on a protected basis.

The practical result as of October 2026:

I found no Delaware statute capping fees charged to job seekers, setting refund rules, or limiting temp-to-perm conversion fees outside long-term care. Those terms are governed by your contracts. The temp-to-perm conversion fee guide covers how such clauses are usually drafted.

The Delaware business license and gross receipts tax

The requirement that replaced the agency license in practice is the ordinary business license in 30 Del. C. Chapters 21 and 23, administered by the Division of Revenue:

• License required. Under § 2101, no one may carry on a licensed trade or business without a license.
• Fee. Under § 2301, a service business not otherwise listed pays an annual general service license fee of $75, plus $25 for each additional location.
• Gross receipts. On top of the license fee, § 2301 imposes a gross receipts license fee of 0.3983%. Monthly filers take a $100,000 monthly deduction; filers below the $1.5 million lookback threshold file quarterly with a $300,000 deduction.
• Term. One year, expiring December 31, or optionally three years (§ 2102).
• Penalty. Under § 2119, doing business without a license can bring a fine of up to $3,000, up to two years' imprisonment, or both, plus the unpaid fees.

Gross receipts matter more for staffing than for most service businesses, because a temp firm's receipts include the full bill rate, wages and all, not just its margin. Build the 0.3983% into your Delaware markup. The arithmetic is in how to calculate staffing markup.

If you form the firm elsewhere, register before doing business: a foreign corporation qualifies under 8 Del. C. § 371 (with an $80 filing fee), and a foreign LLC registers under 6 Del. C. § 18-902.

Workers' compensation

Delaware's workers' compensation law applies to any employment in which one or more employees are engaged, under 19 Del. C. § 2306, with exceptions for farm laborers and certain household workers in § 2307. A staffing firm needs coverage from its first temp.

The penalties for going uninsured in § 2374 are steep:

• a civil penalty of three times the premium (the last premium paid, or the most expensive comparable premium in the state for one year if the employer was never insured);
• after notice, $10 per employee per day, with a minimum of $250 per day;
• loss of the employer's common-law defenses in injury suits; and
• an injunction from the Court of Chancery after 30 days in default.

Clients will ask for a certificate before your first placement. See staffing agency insurance requirements for the other coverage they usually want, and joint employer liability for staffing agencies for how responsibility is split.

Unemployment insurance and the temp reassignment rule

The Department of Labor's Division of Unemployment Insurance administers the program. Under 19 Del. C. § 3302(12)(A), an employer is liable once it pays $1,500 in wages in a calendar quarter or employs at least one person in 20 weeks of the current or prior year.

Delaware has a staffing-specific rule worth putting in your onboarding packet. Under § 3327(b), a temporary employee "will be deemed to have voluntarily quit employment if the employee does not contact the temporary help firm for reassignment upon completion of an assignment." It applies only if the worker was told of the duty and that benefits may be denied for failing to meet it. A one-page signed notice at hire is the evidence you will need when a claim is contested.

For PEOs and leasing companies the rule runs the other way. Under § 3302(12)(J), a PEO or employee leasing company is not the employer of leased employees for unemployment purposes; the client company is, and reports the wages under its own account and experience rate. That provision expressly does not apply to temporary help firms as defined in § 3327, except for any employee leasing segment of the firm. Delaware's paid family and medical leave law also treats the PEO's client as the employer.

I found no separate Delaware registration or licensing statute for PEOs as of October 2026.

Long-term care staffing agencies

The one place Delaware still registers staffing firms is long-term care. Under 16 Del. C. § 1119D, a temporary staffing agency, defined in § 1102 as a business that provides temporary staff to a long-term care facility in the state, must:

• register with the Division of Health Care Quality in the Department of Health and Social Services, renew annually, and update the registration on a change of ownership or location;
• keep credential, immunization and training records for each worker;
• not require its staff to recruit the facility's permanent employees; and
• file an annual report covering placements, charges per employee by quarter, and license and background check documentation.

The statute allows a reasonable registration fee not exceeding cost. I could not confirm the current fee amount or the implementing regulation, so ask the Division before you place anyone in a Delaware nursing home. Home health agency licensing excludes agencies that only supply staff to other agencies, so a pure staffing supplier does not need a home health license on that basis.

Other categories

• Farm labor. No state farm labor contractor license. Under 19 Del. C. § 1501, an employer using an interstate farm labor contractor must make reasonable efforts to confirm the contractor's federal registration.
• Models and performers. No talent agency license, but § 508 requires a Department of Labor permit for a child under 16 working as a model or performer.
• Job postings. Delaware's pay range law for postings takes effect later; see Delaware pay transparency law for the dates and who it covers.

A Delaware checklist

DELAWARE CHECK — [date] — owner: [name]

Model:
  [ ] Employer-paid direct hire: no agency license
  [ ] Candidate-paid fees: no license; contract reviewed by counsel
  [ ] Temp/contract, we employ: employer accounts below
  [ ] Staff to long-term care facilities: DHCQ registration (16-1119D)

Division of Revenue:
  Business license ($75 + $25 per extra location)     [ ]
  Gross receipts filing schedule set (0.3983%)        [ ]
  Renewal date: December 31                           [ ]

Employer accounts:
  Workers' comp in force from first employee          [ ]
  Division of UI account                              [ ]
  Temp reassignment notice signed at hire (3327)      [ ]
  Withholding account                                 [ ]
Next review: [date]

Re-check if you add long-term care placements or start co-employing a client's existing workforce, since those are the two changes that bring Delaware-specific filings back into play.