CLEVELAND – Now that the Supreme Court has, again, upheld a major portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it would behoove employers to ensure that they are in compliance with the regulation, writes attorney Jeffrey Smith of labor law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP. In an article on the firm’s website, Smith addresses several relevant issues and related questions for employers to consider. The full article is available, here.

Which Employees Are Full-Time?
To comply with the Employer Mandate portion of the ACA, also known as the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment, employers who have 50 or more full-time equivalent employees must make an affordable and adequate offer of group health plan coverage to their employees. Failure to do so raises the possibility of a stiff penalty. However, under the ACA, “full-time” is defined as 30 or more hours per week. And in fact, employers must use the “monthly measurement” method or the “lookback measurement and stability period” method to calculate the number of full-time employees, which can be particularly complicated when employees work variable hours.

Did You Write It Down?
While figuring out who is eligible for coverage is the first step, the next essential step for employers is to document your full-time employee eligibility policy, clearly communicate it to HR staff, and incorporate it into your Plan Document and Summary Plan Description. Smith points out that this is also a good opportunity to review your Plan Document and Summary Plan Description for compliance with the final, major ACA changes that go into effect by January 1, 2016.  His article addresses specific points to look out for when reviewing plans, as well as an action plan to address ACA policies.

How Does This Impact Employee Leave?
Once an employer has decided how to determine the full-time status of employees, and once you’ve written down those rules, you can tackle an issue that employers face nearly every day: how to treat employees during leaves of absence. In the past, employers subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) would offer COBRA to employees who need additional time off, however that option is no longer available for employers who use the lookback measurement and stability period method to calculate eligibility. That’s because workers may be eligible for health-care coverage throughout their leave.

Smith clarifies that these complicated issues should be addressed with both your insurance advisor and your employee benefits counsel.

NACS has published a set of compliance documents to guide both large and small employers on their obligations under ACA, available here.