Employers that hired seasonal workers
this summer are reminded that there is a seasonal worker exception when
measuring workforce size to determine whether they are an applicable
large employer (ALE) subject to the Affordable Care Act's employer
shared responsibility ("pay or play") provisions.
Seasonal Worker Exception
The pay or play provisions generally require ALEs—generally those with at least 50 full-time employees,
including full-time equivalent employees (FTEs)—to offer affordable
health insurance that provides a minimum level of coverage to full-time
employees and their dependents in order to avoid paying a tax. However,
if an employer's workforce exceeds 50 full-time employees (including
FTEs) for 120 days or less (or 4 calendar months) during the preceding calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 who were employed during that period were seasonal workers, the employer is not considered an ALE for the current calendar year.
A seasonal worker for this purpose is an employee who performs labor or
services on a seasonal basis. For example, retail workers employed
exclusively during holiday seasons are seasonal workers.
Check out our Pay or Play section for additional details.