More Time for Full-Time

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More Time for Full-Time is a coalition of pro-corporate organizations and trade associations that oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's (ACA) definition of "full-time employee" as someone who works 30 or more hours a week.[1] The ACA's employer mandate provision requires that companies provide 70 percent of the health coverage for their full-time employees if they employ the hourly equivalent of 100 full-time workers. As of January 1, 2016, employers with the hourly equivalent of 50 or more full-time workers will need to provide health coverage to 95 percent of full-time employees.[2] More Time for Full-Time argues that this mandate will "cripple businesses and force them to restructure their workforce to mitigate costs."[3]

More Time for Full-Time believes that employers will drop employee hours and hire more part-time employees to avoid health care costs, according to The Hill.[4] Despite these claims, the labor market does not reflect this fear: Labor Department figures show full-time employment increasing at about twice the rate of part-time employment during the average monthly job growth of 240,000 jobs in 2014, according to USA Today.[2] Furthermore, raising the threshold for full-time employment to 40 hours a week, if employers are truly lowering employee hours to avoid health costs, would place nearly five times more workers at risk for reduced hours and loss of health coverage as many more employees work 40 or more hours a week than work around 30 hours a week, according to The Hill.[4]

More Time for Full-Time has supported the "Forty Hours is Full Time Act," S. 30, which was in front of the Senate as of February 2015 and would change the ACA definition of full-time employment to 40 hours a week.[5] A version of this bill, "The Save American Workers Act," H.R. 30, had already passed in the House.[5]

More Time for Full-Time maintains its internet presence at MoreTimeForFullTime.org. This domain name was registered on June 27, 2014 to Jason Yusko of the International Franchise Association.[6] Along with hosting information and articles, MoreTimeForFullTime.org has a page that will look up a visitor's representatives and then allow that visitor to send a pre-written, pro-"Forty Hours is Full Time Act" letter to those representatives.[7] The letter claims that, "because of the ACA's 30-hour full-time definition, many employees -- as well as the companies that employ them -- are being hurt by the ACA's perverse incentives to reduce the hours employees work."[7]

Coalition Members

The Coalition Partners of More Time for Full-Time are, as of February 2015:[8]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. More Time is Full-Time, "Why 30 Hours is Bad," organizational campaign website, accessed February 26, 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Paul Davidson, "Some Businesses Use Part-Time to Meet Health Law," USA Today, December 30, 2014.
  3. More Time is Full-Time, "Why 30 Hours is Bad," organizational campaign website, accessed February 26, 2015.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Elise Viebeck, "Lobbyists Push to Change ObamaCare's Definition of Full-time Work," The Hill, September 19, 2014.
  5. 5.0 5.1 More Time for Full-Time, "Legislative Status," organizational campaign website, accessed February 26, 2015.
  6. "Moretimeforfulltime.org Registry," Whois.com, accessed February 26, 2015.
  7. 7.0 7.1 More Time is Full-Time, "Letter Page," organizational campaign website, accessed February 26, 2015.
  8. More Time for Full-Time, "Home Page," organizational campaign website, accessed February 26, 2015.