SBE Council Supports “Forty Hours is Full Time Act of 2013” (S. 1188)

By SBE Council at 29 July, 2013, 2:16 pm

July 29, 2013

The Honorable Susan Collins

United States Senate

Washington, DC   20510

Dear Senator Collins:

On behalf of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), I write in support of the “Forty Hours is Full Time Act of 2013” (S. 1188). The employer mandate within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes a restrictive and unrealistic definition of “full time employee,” which is forcing entrepreneurs to alter their business models and hiring decisions.  S.1188 offers a common sense remedy that would modify the definition of full-time employee to one that has been long-established — that is, one who works 40 hours.

While SBE Council believes that the employer mandate within ACA needs to be repealed, S.1188 would at least bring some relief and clarity to many small businesses. The mandate requires firms with 50 or more “full-time equivalent workers” to offer health plans to employees who work more than 30 hours a week. The perverse incentive is for businesses to lower employee working hours to less than 30 hours per week, and businesses are doing just that.  Already, involuntary part-time employment is very high. Small businesses require an environment that encourages the creation of full-time jobs, which will help our nation return to robust economic growth.

As you well know, small business owners and entrepreneurs need to be investing their precious time, energy and capital into building their firms.  When entrepreneurs put their innovative know-how and resources into becoming more competitive and innovative, our economy becomes stronger. Unfortunately, many business owners find themselves assessing and studying the complex “shared responsibility” regulations in the ACA to determine how they can avoid the costly mandate and the potential penalties that go with it.  The one-year delay of the mandate does not change this dynamic.

The complex and costly employer mandate in the ACA must change, as well as many other parts of the law.  And again, while SBE Council supports legislative efforts to repeal the employer mandate in ACA, S. 1188 would at least provide clarity and relief to business owners to help partially stem the unintended consequences of this provision. Thank you, Senator Collins, for your leadership and support of small business owners.

Sincerely,

Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO