26 Aug More on the Oct. 1 ACA notices: Who has to provide them

Originally posted by Keith R. McMurdy on https://eba.benefitnews.com

After last week’s reminder about the Oct. 1 deadline for Affordable Care Act communications, the following question came up frequently — Does the notice requirement apply to employers with less than 50 employees?

Further clarification is provided in Technical Release 2013-02 called “Guidance on the Notice to Employees of Coverage Options under Fair Labor Standards Act 18B and Updated Model Election Notice under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985.” Section 18B of the FLSA was added as a result of the ACA. And it is 18B of the FLSA that contains the notice requirement that employers must communicate about the ACA with their employees. Overall, it says that every employer that is subject to the FLSA must provide the notice about coverage options. Fact Sheet 14 from the U.S. Department of Labor tells us that businesses covered by the FLSA must have at least two employees, and are those that have an annual dollar volume of sales or business revenue of at least $500,000 or are hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools and preschools or government agencies.

So, if your business is subject to the FLSA, you have to give the notice to employees of coverage options to existing employees by Oct. 1, and to all new hires within 14 days. It does not matter if you have 10 or 35 or 50 or 100 employees. If you are subject to the FLSA, you have to provide the notice.

Keith R. McMurdy is a partner with Fox Rothschild, focusing on labor and employment issues. He can be reached at kmcmurdy@foxrothschild.com or 212-878-7919.

This alert is intended for general information and educational purposes and should not be taken as specific legal advice.