In July 2013, the Obama administration announced it would delay enforcement of the “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) for one year – from January 1, 2014, until January 1, 2015 (see email below). Monday (February 10) it announced that it would further delay enforcement of the employer mandate for employers with between 50 and 99 employees until January 2016. The administration also announced that it would allow an employer with 100 or more employees to avoid penalties if it offers coverage to at least 70 percent of the employer’s full-time (30 or more hours) employees in 2015 and to at least 95 percent of full-time employees in 2016. (This delay does not affect the individual mandate which requires most Americans to have health insurance or face a tax penalty.) The regulations also address issues that don’t affect most employers, such as volunteers to government or tax-exempt entities, teachers who do not work during the summer, seasonal employees who work less than six months annually, and adjunct faculty members.

If you have any questions about this or with any other employment issues, please contact Wallace Jordan.