The departure of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wont stop our Obamacare chronicles, as new developments continue to beset the unpopular health law. Todays Wall Street Journal explores the deleterious impact Democrats signature overhaul is having on workers -- often low wage -- who work variable hour professions. The report focuses on employees of food services monolith Sodexho, but notes that similarly-situated companies are likely to follow suit in the coming months and years. Obamacare is all about fighting for the little guy, supporters will be quick to inform you. Except when its not, which turns out to be often (via YG Network): Susan Caspersen was in a hospital in Akron, Ohio, last November recovering from an emergency appendectomy when she got some unwelcome news: as of Jan. 1, 2014, she would no longer be eligible for the health-insurance plan offered by her employer, food-service giant Sodexo USA. Ms. Caspersen, a waitress at Virtues Restaurant in the Summa Akron City Hospital, falls into part of the workforce that may feel the strongest effects of the Affordable Care Act: workers whose hours change on a weekly or seasonal basis. Thousands of these so-called variable-hour employees—many of whom work on college campuses that dont operate during summer months—could lose their benefits as employers use new formulas to classify workers as full time or part time. The distinction determines which employees are entitled to company-sponsored health coverage...A large portion of Sodexos 125,000 U.S. workers are variable, and about 10,000 of them are losing access to health insurance, paid vacation and sick days and other benefits available to full-timers. Sodexo says it has taken steps to ease the strain on workers, but avers that the new formula lets it manage costs and stay competitive in a business driven by low-margin contracts. Other employers are likely to follow Sodexos lead in reclassifying workers as they get closer to the ACAs Jan. 1, 2015 compliance deadline, said Gary Claxton, a vice president at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, who said that businesses sought clear guidance from government officials on how to handle workers with nonstandard hours. Er, isnt the new employer mandate compliance deadline January 1, 2016 now? In any case, Sodexho says its made as many adjustments as it can to mitigate the damage, but the law is the law -- and it has consequences: Peterson [Sodexos VP of compensation and benefits] says ‘the ACA, on a net basis, is costing the company material amounts of money.’ The laws requirement that individuals buy coverage ‘has driven thousands of employees into our medical benefits and thats offset any savings from the change in eligibility,’ she said.”
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 21:20:16 +0000
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