Texas residents may wish to know how their employer is classified for purposes of providing health care. Large employers are subject to different shared responsibility provisions as well as the reporting requirements of minimum essential coverage.
The major determining factor in deciding whether or not the employer is an Applicable Large Employer is the size of the full-time employee payroll. If there were an average of 50 employees or more over the year, which is defined by adding up the monthly employment numbers and dividing by twelve, then it is a ALE and subject to the shared responsibility provisions and other associated requirements. Employees who are covered by health care provided by the military do not count against this total for every month that they enjoy that coverage.
Full-time employees are those who worked 30 hours in every week of a month or a total of 130 hours or more in that month. For these purposes part-time employees can be considered the equivalent of one full-time employee when 120 total service hours are logged by part-time employees in one month. It does not matter how many part-time employees combine to work the required hours. Employers who do not qualify as ALES under these guidelines may wish to submit a request for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.
The Affordable Health Care Act brought with it a number of new restrictions, conditions, strictures and guidelines that may apply in different ways to both workers and their employers. People who need assistance in determining what their employee rights to coverage are may wish to meet with an attorney and discuss their concerns.
Source: IRS, "Determining if an Employer is an Applicable Large Employer", Nov. 22, 2016
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