Employers cutting worker hours because of Obamacare's Employer Mandate
By John Vinci (@jcvinci)
Starting in 2014, Obamacare's "Employer Mandate" will fine employers with 50 or more employees who do not provide a certain level of health benefits. Because of certain IRS regulations many businesses are running their businesses in 2013 as if the Employer Mandate was already in effect. That means that, even now, businesses are cutting worker hours to avoid being fined by Obamacare.
Issuing a press release that your business is cutting employee hours is not good for public relations, but news of cuts to worker hours is leaking out in news stories across the country. Here's our list of employers who have been forced to cut or limit worker hours because of Obamacare. We will be updating this list on a regular basis. If you know of others please send us a tweet at @RegWatch.
- Youngstown State University and Ohio University are cutting back on their adjunct professors’ hours.
- On December 1, 2012, the City of Cedar Falls, Iowa cut back on its part-time employees’ hours to 29 hours per week, and other cities in Iowa are following suit.
- On December 17, 2012, a TV news station in Charlotte, NC reported that a local restaurant owner expects to have to cut back his employees’ hours to under 30 per week.
- On December 18, 2012 Lake County, California decided to limit its “extra-help” part-time employees in 2013 to 25 hours per week. A staff memo makes it clear that the county is taking this action because of Obamacare’s Employer Mandate and in light of IRS guidance.[2]
[1] We received the Memo and Policy pdf from the administrative office of Lake County, California. The county employee told us that this policy was passed at a meeting of the Lake County Board of Supervisors.