The Affordable Care Act
If you have more than 100 employees, the Affordable Care Act requires you to provide health insurance coverage to your full-time workers. On January 1, 2016, the threshold drops to 50 employees or more. The Act defines full-time employees as those working an average of at least 30 hours per week.
Can You Avoid the Requirement By Just Having Part-Time Workers?
Many restaurants, wishing to avoid the ACA requirement of providing health-coverage, lowered the hours of employees across the board to bring them under the 30-hour limit.
The Dave and Buster’s restaurant chain has been sued in a class action by employees whose hours were reduced to avoid providing health care coverage. The thrust of the complaint is that the reduction violates the Employment Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs employer-provided health insurance as well as retirement plans. ERISA makes it unlawful for an employer to interfere with any right that a plan participant is entitled to under the Act. The suit alleges that the reduction in hours constitutes interference.
Until the Court’s Rule …
If your company has more than 100 employees or meets the upcoming 50-employee ACA requirement, you will want to carefully assess your staffing plan with the assistance of experienced counsel. We can consider the solution that aligns with the law and meets your company objectives. If you are not an existing client, contact us for a LIFT Foundation Audit where we will review all of your legal, insurance, financial and tax systems and find places you can save money and shore up the foundation to earn more. If you are an existing client and have more than 50 employees, call to schedule an ACA review and audit today under your membership plan.