There is a great deal of confusion these days regarding part time employees and health insurance.
It's coming up in more conversations these days and for good reason.
What are the rules for health insurance when it comes to part time employees?
It's a good time to answer them since the rules are changing.
And the changes might mean money out of your pocket.
Many employers are unaware of the new changes created about the ACA law in regards to part timers.
"We're a small company. That doesn't affect us!" Wrong.
Due to the ACA law, some calculations now look at your part time employees, others do not, and some are so complicated, we're not even sure how they apply.
Generally part-time eligibility starts at 15 hours/week but some carriers have more flexible bottoms (lower).
The complicated calculation mentioned above has to do with 30 hours during what time frame.
Last quarter? Past year? Right now?
There are dozens of pages that deal with this calculation and our recommendation is to offer your best estimate. We know...not very scientific but there are actually multiple ways to run it.
Let's assume we have our employees that are clearly under 30 hours per week
on average.
These are w2 employees, not contract or 1099 labor. Contractors or 1099
do not figure into any calculation due to their status.
An employer is not responsible for offering health insurance to these individuals.
That penalty was all the rage July of 2015. How quickly things change...
We can help you investigate whether this option might work for you with part-time and full-time employees.
Just call us at 800-320-6269 or email us and we run through the new law based on your needs.
You can always run through quotes here:
There are two important considerations.
You can find more information on whether a company is has to offer health insurance to employees here but..
A company can CHOOSE to offer part-timers health insurance. In this case, the benefits and contribution must be the same as offered to full time employees.
If there is a waiting period for being eligible for benefits, the move from part time to full time eligibility (if part timers are not covered) is when the waiting period starts for benefits. Not the original hire date.
Quick note: There are now penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees down to 50 employees starting Jan 2016.
More detail here but in a nutshell:
We can help you evaluate these different strategies to see what is priced best at 800-320-6269.
So, the penalties do not apply to part-timers. How do part-timers fit into the equation??
This is used to determine if a company is in the penalty range.
For example:
Let's say we have a company with 40 full time (30 hours) employees and 100 part time employees at 15 hours.
The company might think, "Great...I have no penalty either way!"
Wrong.
The law looks at Full-time equivalents.
That's a fancy way of saying that the 100 part time employees are the EQUIVALENT of 50 full time employees.
That's your equivalent full-time number.
If it's 50 or more, you may be facing a penalty for not offering employer sponsored health insurance.
We were discussing these new penalties with a company and the owner said,,
"I'll just wait till December and then drop payroll below 50 employees or drop hours down to part time"
That won't work. The look back period is generally the preceding year. The baseline employment is already in place for the most part.
It's pretty black and white. Careful - many companies are swimming in sea of gray.
An employer can either offer part timer employees group health coverage on par with full-time employees or NOT.
This is equally true for full time employees!!
An employer should have nothing to do with an individual/family plan for their part timers unless it's processed through the QSEHRA which we can help you set up.
Don't even say "This amount is for you to get your own health plan".
Part timers that are not offered group health plans can get their own individual/family plans and we can help them through that entire process.
In 5 minutes we can size up tax credits, rates, and plans suited their needs and budget.
Make sure to keep an arm's length distance from their health insurance options and associated cost.
There are tax credits available to individuals and families now.
What
about dropping full-time employees to part-time to avoid the penalty
This has been in the news quite a bit with large companies dropping hours down to part-time status.
Again, the penalty may not apply to your part time employees but total payroll hours/30 per week will still factor into whether penalties apply to your full timers..
We can help you look at your particular situation to see what the most cost effective option is available including::
If you do not want to offer part-time (or full time employees) employer sponsored health benefits, send them to us.
We'll get them the best plan, rate, and tax credit available on the market.
For more complicated questions on full-time to part-time, dropping hours or employee count, this gets a little trickier.
Call us and we'll walk through the options. Our services are free to you.
For employees that make very little, we can also investigate whether they might qualify for a tax credit through Covered California.
Contact us at 800-320-6269 to go over the options available to you.
Related Pages:
Small Business Health Quote With Tax Credit Calculations
Individual Family Plans for Employees without Group Health Plan Quote
Again, there is absolutely no cost to you for our services. Call 800-320-6269 Today!
Call 800-320-6269
Calll 800-320-6269
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20 years of experience in the California health insurance market has taught us one thing...Competent and experienced guidance is Invaluable
We can quickly (very important) size up your health insurance needs and clearly explain the options available to you. Our focus is finding the most coverage at the best cost to you.
We are licensed Covered Ca agents with in-depth knowledge of their plans, process, and tax credits.
Call us...you will be Pleasantly Surprised. 800-320-6269
We'll quickly see if you have the best priced plan available and if you qualify for a tax credit
800-320-6269
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