CHICAGO — Employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act are mandated to provide notice to employees of coverage options from the new Health Insurance Marketplace under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Employers have a deadline of Tuesday, Oct. 1, to provide this notice to current employees “and to each new employee at the time of hire beginning Oct. 1, regardless of plan enrollment status (if applicable) or of part-time or full-time status,” according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
All employers who have at least one employee and at least $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business must provide the notification, according to the SBA, as well as “inform employees that they may be eligible for a premium tax credit if they purchase coverage through the Marketplace; and advise employees that if they purchase a plan through the Marketplace, they may lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered by the employer.”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has two sample notices available for employers to use, one model for employers who offer a health plan to some or all employees, and another for employers who do not offer a health plan. The sample notices can be found at the DOL’s website.
For more information, visit healthcare.gov or sba.gov/healthcare.
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