• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

McCarter & English Logo

  • People
  • Services
  • Insights
  • Our Firm
    • Leadership Team
    • Social Justice
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Pro Bono
    • Client Service Values
    • Alumni
  • Join Us
    • Lawyers
    • Summer Associates
    • Patent Professionals
    • Professional Staff
    • Job Openings
  • Locations
    • Boston
    • Philadelphia
    • East Brunswick
    • Indianapolis
    • Stamford
    • Hartford
    • Trenton
    • Miami
    • Washington, DC
    • New York
    • Wilmington
    • Newark
  • Share

Share

Browse Alphabetically:

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • All
Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Litigation
Blockchain, Smart Contracts & Digital Currencies
Business Litigation
Cannabis
Coronavirus Resource Center
Corporate
Crisis Management
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Delaware Corporate, LLC & Partnership Law
Design, Fashion & Luxury
E-Discovery & Records Management
Energy & Utilities
Environment & Energy
Financial Institutions
Food & Beverage
Government Affairs
Government Contracts & Global Trade
Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
Healthcare
Hospitality
Immigration
Impact Investing
Insurance Recovery, Litigation & Counseling
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Life Sciences
Manufacturing
Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions
Public Finance
Real Estate
Renewable Energy
Sports & Entertainment
Tax & Employee Benefits
Technology Transactions
Transportation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Trusts, Estates & Private Clients
Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies
  • Broadcasts
  • Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • View All Insights
Search By:
Insights Publication Magazine & Glasses
Main image for Final Rules Implementing Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Provide Transition Relief for 2015
Publications|Alert

Final Rules Implementing Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Provide Transition Relief for 2015

Tax and Employee Benefits Alert

2.14.2014

The ACA Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions require an employer with at least 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) to offer health coverage to its full-time (30 hours per week) employees (and their dependents) that meets certain minimum standards set by the ACA or make a tax payment called the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP) (which must be paid if a full-time employee receives a premium tax credit or reduced-cost health insurance through an ACA health insurance marketplace).

On February 10, 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department issued final rules on the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions. In order to gradually phase in those provisions and assist employers in complying with those provisions, the final rules provide the following transition relief for 2015:

1.     In 2015, the ESRP will only apply to employers with 100 or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees); beginning in 2016, the ESRP will apply to employers with 50 or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees); and

2.     The percentage of full-time employees who must be offered health coverage (including dependent coverage) that meets the minimum ACA standards is being phased in from 70% in 2015 to 95% beginning in 2016.

For non-calendar year plans, the transition relief also applies to the portion of the 2015 plan year that falls in 2016.

In order to be eligible for the transition relief described in item 1 above, an employer generally must satisfy three conditions, with limited exceptions:

1.     The employer on average must employ at least 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) but fewer than 100 full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) on business days during 2014;

2.     During the period beginning on February 9, 2014, and ending on December 31, 2014, the employer must not reduce the size of its workforce or overall hours of service of its employees in order to fall below the 100-employee threshold; and

3.     During the period beginning February 9, 2014, and ending December 31, 2015 (or, for non-calendar year plans, ending the last day of the 2015 plan year), the employer must not eliminate or materially reduce the health coverage, if any, it offered as of February 9, 2014.

The employer must certify on a prescribed form that it meets the above eligibility requirements.

The final rules also provide clarification regarding whether certain employees are considered full-time for purposes of determining whether the employer is subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions and which employees must be offered coverage meeting the minimum ACA standards in order to avoid the ESRP, including:

1.     Volunteer fire and emergency responders;

2.     Education employees and adjunct faculty;

3.     Seasonal workers; and

4.     Students in work-study programs.

The final rules also provide safe harbors for employers for purposes of determining whether the health coverage they offer is “affordable” (one of the ACA standards for avoiding the ESRP). Further, in addition to the two forms of transition relief referred to above, certain transition rules that applied to 2014 are extended to 2015 under the final rules (including, among others, rules relating to non-calendar year plans and the addition of dependent coverage).

For more information regarding the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions (including the transition rules), please click here to view the U.S. Treasury Department Fact Sheet. To view the final rules implementing the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions, please click here.

Disclaimer by McCarter & English, LLP: This publication is for informational purposes only and is not offered as legal advice regarding any particular matter. No reader should act on the basis of this publication without seeking appropriate professional advice. Before making your choice of attorney, you should give this matter careful thought. The selection of an attorney is an important decision. If this publication is inaccurate or misleading, the recipient may make a report to the Committee on Attorney Advertising, Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 037, Trenton, NJ 08625.

Copyright 2014. McCarter & English, LLP. All Rights Reserved.  

sidebar

pdfemail

Related People

Media item: Mark A. Daniele
Mark A. Daniele

Partner

Media item: Jane S. Kimball
Jane S. Kimball

Special Counsel

Media item: John B. Brescher, Jr.
John B. Brescher, Jr.

Special Counsel

Media item: Joel E. Horowitz
Joel E. Horowitz

Partner

Related Services

Tax & Employee Benefits
Subscribe to our Insights
McCarter & English, LLP
Copyright © 2023 McCarter & English, LLP. All Rights Reserved.
  • Login
  • Attorney Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Awards Methodology
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Sitemap

The McCarter & English, LLP website is for informational purposes only. We do not provide legal advice on this website. We can provide legal advice only to our clients in specific inquiries that they address to us. If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact us, but do not send any information about your specific legal question. We cannot serve as your lawyers until we establish an attorney-client relationship, which can occur only after we follow procedures within our firm and after we agree to the terms of the representation.

Accept Cancel