Health Care Reform
As we all know, major health-care reform went effect January 1, 2015, bringing with it potentially far-reaching change for many employers. Also known as the “pay-or-play” provisions, these reforms will cause certain employers to be subject to an excise tax if they fail to offer minimum essential health-care coverage to an employee or if that coverage does not meet certain requirements. The employer “shared responsibility rules” apply to employers that employed at least 50 full-time or full-time equivalent employees during the preceding calendar year. Making this determination of whether you are an “applicable large employer” will, of course, be easy for some companies. And it will be not-so-easy for others, requiring a process to identify relevant employees, calculate hours of service, and account for seasonal employees. All of this work is necessary just to determine how the laws apply to your company. As health-care reform requirements continually phase in, it is essential to continually monitor the landscape so that benefit dollars are spent effectively and that compliance is met. This gives employers the opportunity to reassess their decisions and consider the future impact of this legislation. Make sure your staffing service of choice understands the Affordable Care Act and what it means for temps in your place of business.
