New Bill Discusses Seasonal Employment in Relation to Affordable Care Act

Posted On: September 15, 2014

Have you wondered how the Affordable Care Act will affect seasonal employees and employment?

In June the bipartisan Simplifying Technical Aspects Regarding Seasonality Act, or STARS Act, provided new clarification about the Affordable Care Act and seasonal workers. This new definition helps to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses.

3 Areas that the STARS Act covers in regard
to the Affordable Care Act and Seasonal Employees.

• Defining Applicable Large Employer.
  Employers must go through multiple steps regarding the affordable care act to determine if they will be required to pay a fine for not offering healthcare. They must average 50 or more full time employees or full-time equivalents over the course of a year.
• When Seasonal Workers are not Counted.
  If the workforce only exceeds 50 full-time equivalent employees for less than four months, or 120 days, they can remove their seasonal workers from the employee count. The rules regarding the classification of seasonal workers were considered in good faith and companies could self-govern. This made the determination confusing.
• Clarifying Seasonal Employees.
  The STARS Act simplifies how businesses determine if they are an applicable large employer by providing a clear definition of a seasonal worker. According to the STARS Act, seasonal workers are individuals whose annual employment is lasts six months or less. It also means that employers can remove workers who are employed four months or less from their determination of full time employees when calculating their requirements for the ACA.

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