Master policy (workers comp)
A master policy is a single workers compensation policy held by a PEO that covers worksite employees across many client companies, in states that permit it.
Under a master policy, clients are covered through the PEO’s policy rather than holding their own, which is how PEOs offer pay-as-you-go comp without deposits and absorb clients whose individual experience would price poorly. Some states instead require or permit multiple coordinated policies (MCP), where each client has its own policy administered by the PEO, and the monopolistic states (North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, Wyoming) do not allow private master policies at all.
The structure decides two things buyers care about: whose claims history the pricing reflects, and what experience record you own when you leave. In a master-policy state your individual experience mod may stop developing during the relationship. Ask which structure applies in each of your states, and how the PEO will document your loss history for a future standalone policy.