www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | FEBRUARY 2014 27
full-timer (i.e. the employee's work sched-
ule varies from week to week), the ACA will
allow an employer to establish a timeframe
up to 12 months to measure and calculate
the employee's hours of service to assess
full-time status. If the employee averages 30
hours of service per week during this mea-
surement period, then the employer must
treat the individual as a full-time employee
in the following timeframe (stability period)
and extend an offer of healthcare coverage.
The rules are complex; however, employ-
ers with employees that fit this description
should establish measurement and stability
periods in 2014 to be in compliance with
the full-time rules for 2015.
New reporting requirements are on
the horizon; now is a good time to review
your payroll, HRIS and data management
systems. The ACA requires large employers
(as well as those with self-funded plans) to
report certain information to the IRS each
calendar year so the agency may determine
if any employer mandate penalty will be
imposed. These reports, originally sched-
uled to become effective in 2014, have also
been delayed until 2015. The law requires
employers report both plan-level and indi-
vidual employee information such as the
length of the waiting period, employee
contribution amounts and the number of
months the employee was covered by the
plan. Employees must also receive a state-
ment beginning with the 2015 W-2 (issued
in January 2016) showing their personal
coverage information the employer sub-
mitted to the IRS. Employers should take
the time in 2014 to review current payroll
and HRIS data systems in anticipation of
the IRS issuing final rules that will deter-
mine what data will need to be captured
and how the data will be reported to the
IRS and employees beginning with the 2015
calendar year.
One final note: as of this writing the
individual mandate requiring all US citizens
and legal residents to have coverage or pay a
tax is still in effect.
l F O N
Jill R. Bergman, CEBS® is Vice President
of Compliance at Chernoff Diamond & Co.,
LLC one of the nation's premier employee
benefits consulting firms. For over 35 years
Chernoff Diamond consultants have been
helping business owners and employers mini-
mize plan costs, reduce administrative burdens
and enhance employee satisfaction. Bergman
is also editor of www.healthcarereformtoday.
com and www.healthcarereformtodayblog.
com. As a frequent lecturer on the Affordable
Care Act, she diligently tracks on-going rules
and regulations coming out of Washington on
this complex piece of legislation.
By JILL R. BERGMAN
BUsiNess OPeRATiONs
