What do the World Cup, Kimye and the IRS all have in common? Here’s a hint: it has nothing to do with the paparazzi, soccer, or income taxes. Give up? Well, it has everything to do with the month of July. All of these things grabbed the headlines last month. While some were more newsworthy than the others, the news from the IRS may have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit (ok, it’s debatable if Kimye should be even considered newsworthy, but I’ll save that for another blog post).
Now, I know what you’re thinking …. You’re thinking “thank goodness for this blog post, or I may have missed this very important news from the IRS.” Right? Ok, maybe don’t answer that and instead just keep reading.
Late last month the IRS published draft forms for employers to use for compliance reporting with the Affordable Care Act. These forms have been very highly anticipated, as the regulations for the employer mandate can have a steep impact on employers. This all has to do with offering health benefits to full-time employees. The mandate kicks in January 2015 for those considered a “large employer”. But that doesn’t mean that January 2015 is the time to take action. That time is now, because for many organizations 2014 will be the measurement period, when your employees’ part-time/full-time status is established – a key metric in determining the amount of health benefits you need to offer full-time workers.
With the ACA’s employer mandate, managing hours for your part-time and full-time employees is critical. Your organization not only needs a solid understanding of who’s part-time and who’s full time (the threshold is 30 hours/week or 130 hours/month), but it’s also critical to have a way to manage to those part-time/full-time goals.
If your plan is to wait for reports at the end of each pay period, it will be too late to make adjustments. You must be proactive about managing hours to your part-time/full-time goals. This means getting visibility into employee hours during the scheduling process, especially as things change – open shifts, call-offs, no-shows, additional admissions requiring more staff, etc.
Fortunately, OnShift staff scheduling and labor management software has predictive analytics to help senior care providers manage part-time and full-time employee hours – so you avoid unplanned penalties and comply with your Affordable Care Act policies. The best way to manage hours is at the point of scheduling, and OnShift offers easy-to-use tools to do just that.
The new IRS forms are a reminder that the employer mandate is almost here. Get smart about the health coverage changes in the ACA and take action today.
Managing Your Part-Time & Full-Time Employee Mix Is Vital
