New Hampshire Senate Bill SB655

New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/26
• Refer: 2/4/26
• Report Pass: 3/4/26
• Report Pass: 3/11/26
• Engrossed: 3/27/26
• Refer: 3/27/26
• Report Pass: 4/22/26
• Enrolled: 5/28/26

Caption

(New Title) relative to employee leasing companies, workers' compensation coverage options, and a minimum wage exemption for minor league baseball players.

Summary

SB 655 makes two main changes to New Hampshire law. First, it revises the state’s employee leasing/co-employment rules to allow the client company, rather than the employee leasing company, to elect to provide workers’ compensation coverage for leased employees. The bill requires the leasing arrangement to specify which entity is responsible for coverage, requires notice and reporting to the commissioner when the client company is the insurer of record, and preserves the requirement that workers’ compensation coverage be in place for all leased employees. It also clarifies that both the leasing company and the client company retain exclusivity-of-remedy protections under the workers’ compensation law, and it adds penalties if a client company that elected coverage fails to secure it. Second, the bill creates a minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping exemption for minor league baseball players who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for wages and working conditions. This places such players outside the definition of “employee” for purposes of the state wage law, aligning state treatment more closely with the existence of a negotiated labor contract. The bill repeals the prior provision that made employee leasing companies responsible for paying workers’ compensation insurance for leased employees, replacing it with the new election-based framework.

Impact

SB 655 amends RSA 277-B, which governs employee leasing companies and co-employment relationships, and RSA 279:1, which defines “employee” for wage-law purposes. The bill shifts workers’ compensation coverage responsibility in leased-employee arrangements from a mandatory leasing-company obligation to an election between the client company and the leasing company, while adding notice, reporting, and penalty provisions to ensure coverage remains continuous. It also preserves liability protections and clarifies that contractual obligations between the parties are still allowed. In addition, it narrows the reach of state minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping rules by excluding certain minor league baseball players covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been received favorably in the Senate, passing the recorded vote on an Ought to Pass with Amendment recommendation unanimously, 24-0. The lack of recorded opposition and the committee’s amended recommendation suggest broad support for the bill’s restructuring of workers’ compensation responsibilities and its labor-law exemption for minor league baseball players. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record shows consensus rather than detailed debate.

Contention

The main policy issue in the bill is who should bear responsibility for workers’ compensation coverage in employee leasing arrangements. The bill gives the client company and leasing company flexibility to choose, but it also imposes reporting duties and penalties to prevent gaps in coverage; this suggests concern about ensuring accountability regardless of which entity insures the leased workers. A second potential point of contention is the exemption for minor league baseball players, which removes them from certain wage-law protections if they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. That exemption may be viewed as a labor-relations accommodation by some and as a narrowing of worker protections by others, though no recorded opposition appears in the vote history provided.