RILA: Raise threshold of full-time status under ACA

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is encouraged by passage of the Save American Workers Act of 2013 (H.R. 2575) out of the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. According to RILA, the act is an important first step in changing the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) definition of full-time employees from 30 hours of service to a definition more in-line with employment practices.



“Raising the threshold of full-time under the ACA means that retailers will have the flexibility to continue to offer coverage at the current level, whether, for example, the level is 32, 35 or 37 hours. Retailers have voluntarily offered coverage for nearly seven decades at levels, they want to be able to continue to offer this coverage to their employees and their families,” said Christine Pollack VP of government affairs at RILA.



“Most retailers currently use an hourly or salaried workforce designation, not full-time or part-time, which reflects an employees' desire for flexible hours and a manager's need to staff up a store during busy times. The ACA's definition of full-time as 30 hours of service per week fundamentally limits the flexibility of staffing from both the employee and store manager standpoint,” RILA stated in a letter submitted ahead of the mark-up.