Employers and Obama Care

Some employers may be considering reducing the hours of part-time employees in an effort to avoid providing affordable health care coverage required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obama Care). Use caution if you are considering a similar program because the law encompasses both full-time employees and full-time equivalents in the employer calculation. Beginning on January 1, 2015, both public and private employers with 50 or more full-time employees and/or full-time equivalents will be subject to a tax for failing to offer affordable health care coverage to their employees. Part-time employees are grouped together to create full-time equivalents for purposes of determining whether an employer has at least 50 employees, thereby subjecting the employer to the health care mandate and exposing the employer to tax penalties for failing to offer affordable coverage.