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QUIZ: ARE YOU SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE EMPLOYER MANDATE? DIAGNOSE YOURSELFEffective January 1, 2015, you could come down with tax penalties under the employer shared responsibility rules of the Affordable Care Act if you fail to offer health care coverage to your full-time employees and their dependents.

Are you at risk? Take this quiz to find out.

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READ MORE ABOUT THE EMPLOYER MANDATE OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT››

For more information about your preparations to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, please contact Anne Pachciarek or Mark Boxer, partners in our Employee Benefits group, or your DLA Piper Employee Benefits lawyer.

Please note, you will receive an invitation to our first in a series of webinars focusing on issues and solutions to consider in preparation for the Affordable Care Act.

1. HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE?

a. 1-49

b. 50-99

c. 100 or more

For 2015, the employer mandate applies to employers with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees. The employer mandate is delayed until 2016 for employers with 50 to 99 full-time equivalent employees.

2. IS YOUR COMPANY PART OF A CONTROLLED GROUP OF BUSINESSES?

a. No

b. Maybe

c. Yes

A group of trades or businesses under common control are considered a single employer under the controlled group rules of the Internal Revenue Code. All employees of businesses with a common owner or which are otherwise related under the controlled group rules must be counted together to determine whether an employer is a large employer subject to the mandate.

3. DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES?

a. No

b. Maybe

c. Yes

The Affordable Care Act treats anyone employed by an employer for an average of 30 or more hours a week as a full-time employee. An employee’s hours of service include hours when the employee actually performs duties, as well as hours for which the employee is paid but does not actually perform duties, such as vacation, disability and leaves of absence.

4. DO YOUR COMPANY’S FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES HAVE DEPENDENTS?

a. No

b. Maybe

c. Yes

Large employers will need to offer coverage to full-time employees and their dependents in order to avoid penalties. Dependents are generally an employee’s children under the age of 26. No penalty applies for failing to offer coverage to part-time employees or to spouses.

5. DO YOUR COMPANY’S EMPLOYEES WORK A VARIABLE SCHEDULE?

a. No

b. Maybe

c. Yes

For companies with employees working a variable schedule, the IRS provided optional safe harbors to determine whether an employee is full-time. This approach involves a look-back period to measure an employee’s hours of service; an administrative period to identify which employees qualify as a full-time; and a stability period when employees must be offered coverage.

YOUR DIAGNOSISAll As: You may be in the clearWhile the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act most likely does not apply to you just yet, it’s a good idea to prepare yourself for further developments. Read more about it ››

Mostly Bs and Cs: You may be at riskFinal rules issued in February 2014 indicate that employers with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees must offer coverage to at least 70 percent of full-time employees and their dependents in 2015, and 95 percent in 2016 and beyond to avoid penalties. Another penalty applies to large employers that offer unaffordable coverage or coverage that does not provide minimum value. Read more about these penalties››

Coverage provides minimum value if it pays for at least 60 percent of the covered health expenses for a typical population. Coverage is affordable if the employee portion of the premium for self-only coverage does not exceed 9.5 percent of the employee’s income.

TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF • If your company decides to offer coverage, determine whether your plan offers coverage to substantially all

(70 percent in 2015 and 95 percent in 2016) full-time employees and their dependents.

• Figure out whether your coverage is affordable and provides minimum value.

• Review plan terms for 2014 compliance because new insurance protections became effective for 2014.

• Amend plan documents to reflect plan design, and review and update service provider agreements.

• Prepare and distribute employee communications about your decision.

• Pay required fees applicable to health plans.

• Keep good records and plan for new health care reporting to the government and to employees.

• Involve interested constituencies within your company in Affordable Care Act planning (such as payroll, benefits, legal, HR, finance).