A couple of questions about Obamacare:

[gateley]

1) Do small business owners have a way around the 30 hour/week requirement to provide insurance for employees?

2) Does that aspect of it take effect this year or in 2014?

Thanks!

[PoliticAverse]

1. The penalties/requirement starts Jan 2104, but a 6-month period from this year

is used to determine the # of full time employees (the employer can choose the 6-month period)

Note that only businesses with the equivalent of 50 'full-time' employees are affected.

An extensive explanation of the requirements can be found here:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Questions-and-Answers-on-Employer-Shared-Responsibility-Provisions-Under-the-Affordable-Care-Act

19. Is transition relief available to help employers that are close to the 50 full-time employee threshold determine their options for 2014?

Yes. Rather than being required to use the full twelve months of 2013 to measure whether it has 50 full-time employees (or an equivalent number of part-time and full-time employees), an employer may measure using any six-consecutive-month period in 2013. So, for example, an employer could use the period from January 1, 2013, through June 30, 2013, and then have six months to analyze the results, determine whether it needs to offer a plan, and, if so, choose and establish a plan.

Liability for the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment
10. Under what circumstances will an employer owe an Employer Shared Responsibility payment?

In 2014, if an employer meets the 50 full-time employee threshold, the employer generally will be liable for an Employer Shared Responsibility payment only if:

(a) The employer does not offer health coverage or offers coverage to less than 95% of its full-time employees, and at least one of the full-time employees receives a premium tax credit to help pay for coverage on an Exchange;

OR

(b) The employer offers health coverage to at least 95% of its full-time employees, but at least one full-time employee receives a premium tax credit to help pay for coverage on an Exchange, which may occur because the employer did not offer coverage to that employee or because the coverage the employer offered that employee was either unaffordable to the employee (see question 11, below) or did not provide minimum value (see question 12, below).

After 2014, the rule in paragraph (a) applies to employers that do not offer health coverage or that offer coverage to less than 95% of their full time employees and the dependents of those employees.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act#Effective_by_January_1.2C_2013

[gateley]

2. Thank you so much!!

[intaglio]

3. If reply 1 is correct then the "Small Business" has to have 50 or more employees

So at 30 hrs per week on minimum wage (I used Florida's $7.79) means the wage bill is $584,000 per annum. Add in the other costs and the turnover for that small business has to exceed $1.25 million before materials; that's a healthy sized business.

[gateley]

4. I'm going to have to try to figure out if my employers will be affected.

I haven't heard anything from them, but I've no doubt if they have to make the choice about hours/vs health care, they'll shave off the hours. We'll see.