While the employer mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may not be in force until 2015, that doesn't mean that business owners don't have to make certain issues known to their workers about their employee benefits. And if they don't, they could face a hefty fine.
As recently noted by FOXBusiness.com, all business owners who have one or more employees on their payroll, and whose profits exceed $500,000 annually, must inform their workers about the healthcare exchanges that are scheduled to open on Oct. 1. It's this same date that employers have to tell their workers about the insurance marketplaces. The penalty for failing to do so is $100 for each day. According to the Department of Labor, this rule applies to any business that's regulated under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
"The PPACA has a general $100-a-day penalty for non-compliance," Keith McMurdy, legal expert and owner of 19 law firms across the country, told FoxBusiness.com. He added that many business owners have been under the impression that because the mandate was postponed to 2015, they don't need to worry about anything until then. But they still have to make their workers aware of the exchanges and within two weeks from their starting date for new hires.
Ray Keating, chief economist for the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, told the business news website that it's not yet known how these penalties will be assessed.
In the meantime, many business owners have been peppered with questions from their workers about their benefit packages and how they will be affected by the health reform law. According to a survey conducted by the nonprofit Midwest Business Group on Health, 90 percent of employers said they've fielded questions from their workers about the health law and how it will impact them.
