CLEVELAND, June 24, 2013 — OnShift, the leader in staff scheduling and labor management software for long-term care and senior living, today announced a new release with support for Affordable Care Act requirements. The new predictive analytics and proactive capabilities help providers manage part-time and full-time employee hours to comply with their policies in support of the Affordable Care Act, avoiding additional costs and unplanned penalties.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees must provide qualified health coverage to full-time workers or face a penalty. The ACA defines a full-time worker as one who works a minimum of 30 hours/week or 130 hours/month on average.
“Giving schedulers easy-to-use tools to help manage part-time employee hours at the point of assigning shifts will be tremendously helpful,” stated Jennifer Currie, Vice President of Benefits, Senior Living Communities. “The new features in OnShift will enhance the controls and audit processes we already have in place to align our employees with our part-time and full-time goals. We will be able to easily look ahead with OnShift and tweak thresholds and hours so we can stay on track with our ACA policies.”
“2013 is a vital year in determining employer strategies and what they need to implement under the Affordable Care Act employer mandate. How providers manage their employee mix and hours is critical in moving forward under healthcare reform,” stated Janet Feldkamp, Partner, Co-chair, Health Care Practice Group, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLP. “The changes, potential costs, and consequences are significant. My advice is to take action now – don’t get caught unprepared.”
“Schedulers know in their heads who’s part-time, but extra hours can easily slip through the cracks. The ramifications are higher with the Affordable Care Act, and a manual, spreadsheet or paper-based approach just won’t cut it,” stated Mark Woodka, CEO, OnShift. “The only way to truly stay on top of managing part-time workers and their hours is with automated, predictive capabilities that empower providers to comply with their ACA policies. OnShift’s new features will help providers meet their workforce standards while driving efficiencies and managing costs so they can stay focused on their number one objective – delivering quality care to patients and residents.”
The impact of the health coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act is far reaching:
Long-term care and senior living providers rely on OnShift staff scheduling and labor management software to control labor costs and increase efficiencies so nurses have more time for care. OnShift predicts and prevents overtime and understaffing while dramatically reducing time spent on scheduling and managing open shifts. Fully integrated with time-keeping, HR, clinical and payroll systems, OnShift provides a unified view into staffing levels and labor costs across buildings. Customers choose OnShift because it’s the easiest-to-use scheduling solution with a tightly integrated communications platform, delivering fast ROI. For more information visit www.onshift.com.
[i] Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2013.[ii] UC Berkeley Labor Center, Which workers are most at risk of reduced work hours under The Affordable Care Act?, February 2013.[iii] Mercer, Health Reform Poses Biggest Challenges to Companies with the Most Part-Time and Low-Paid Employees, August 2012.