SYRACUSE — The employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the national health-care reform law) takes effect in just over 11 months, and human-resources (HR) professionals should make certain they have an accurate figure on their company’s employee count. That’s the recommendation from Christian Jones, a labor-law attorney with Mackenzie Hughes, LLP […]
SYRACUSE — The employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the national health-care reform law) takes effect in just over 11 months, and human-resources (HR) professionals should make certain they have an accurate figure on their company’s employee count.
That’s the recommendation from Christian Jones, a labor-law attorney with Mackenzie Hughes, LLP of Syracuse.
The employer mandate is a requirement that all businesses with over 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees provide health insurance for their full-time employees, or pay a per month “Employer Shared Responsibility Payment” on their federal tax return.
The provision is most often referred to as “play or pay,” Jones says.
The employer mandate is officially part of the Employer Shared Responsibility provision.
The annual fee is $2,000 per employee if a company doesn’t offer insurance (the first 30 full-time employees are exempt), according to a research CribSheet at the website of the Nashville, Tenn.–based National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
The NFIB says it advocates for the nation’s small businesses.
“So ... an important first step for all employers is to determine whether they are subject to the employer mandate. In that regard, employers need [to] determine whether they meet that … 50 full-time employee, or 50 FTE employee threshold,” Jones says.
And if the company uses any independent contractors for work production, the HR department needs to make sure those contractors are properly classified to determine if they are part of the company’s overall employee count, says Jones.
“It’s important for employers to take a close look at their independent contractor arrangements and ensure that the classification is proper. And, if not, that they do properly classify those individuals as employees and include them in their employee count,” Jones adds.
Even though the federal government announced the year-long delay in the employer mandate more than six months ago, Jones recommends HR department begin the employee-count process soon, if they haven’t already done so.
As they’re preparing for compliance with next year’s employer mandate, Jones also advises HR departments that some employees might still be thinking about the individual mandate, which took effect on Jan. 1 but also has a deadline of March 31 for this year’s open-enrollment period.
“I can certainly envision employees perhaps having questions or concerns regarding their ability to obtain healthcare coverage,” Jones says.
In that case, he’d recommend employers provide a notice to those workers who elected not to participate in the employer-sponsored plan to make them aware that they have until the end of March to enroll in a plan through NY State of Health, New York’s health-insurance marketplace.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
