It's October 1st! The grand experiment in health care reform has begun. There are pros and cons to this law and I'm sure many details will need to be worked out and a myriad of unintended consequences addressed as things move forward. Regardless, the law does require the attention most small business owners. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) creates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). Yep, more government acronyms! One of it's benchmarks is that if your firm has revenues of $500k or more, the Department of Labor (DoL) will now require that you provide your employees with notice of what their health insurance options are regardless of whether they are full or part-time.
This notice should inform your employees...
- About the Health Insurance Marketplace
- That they may be eligible for lower cost insurance from the Marketplace
- That their doing so may cause them to lose their employer subsidy
- They may be eligible for a premium tax credit for any qualified health plan that they purchase through the Marketplace
Notices may be provided for any new employees hired as of October 1st. You should have already provided notice to your existing employees by October 1st. However, on September 11th, the DoL said that they will not presently levy any fines or penalties for failure to have done so. My suggestion is that you provide notice regardless. The DoL has provided two model notices for employers to use. One version is for employers who offer a health plan to some or all of their employees and the other is for those employers who do not. Here are the links to those notices:
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/FLSAwithplans.pdf (Employers who offer plans)
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/FLSAwithoutplans.pdf (Employers who DO NOT offer plans)
As always, be sure to check with your own licensed legal and accounting professionals concerning your own individual situation. Regardless of your own political views, the ACA is the law of the land and definitely needs your attention. Have a great day, Joe
