By Justin Sink - 07-16-13 02:20 PM ET
White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday dismissed reports that some employers were hiring more part-time employees because of the president's signature healthcare law.
"The data reflects that there is not support for the proposition that businesses are not hiring full-time employees because of the Affordable Care Act," Carney told reporters.
According to The Wall Street Journal, employers have added more part-time employees — about 93,000 a month — in 2013 than full-time workers — averaging about 22,000 per month. That's a reversal from 2012, when employers hired 31,000 part -time workers and 171,000 full-time ones per month.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers with 50 or more full-time employees (defined as working more than 30 hours per week) must offer affordable insurance, or face fines. According to ADP, the average cost of a premium per employee is $9,562 per year, with an employer typically picking up three-quarters of the cost.
The requirement has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks after the administration delayed that so-called employer mandate for an additional year, saying bureaucratic issues still needed ironing out.
Nevertheless, the White House argued Tuesday that the new healthcare law was not responsible for the uptick in part-time, rather than full-time employment.
More from The Hill:
No comments:
Post a Comment