The number of part-time employees who have no health insurance coverage is growing, according to a report.
While 60.1 percent of full-time workers had employer-sponsored health insurance coverage as part of their compensation in 2010, only 16.8 percent of part-time workers were similarly insured, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. At the same time, the number of part-time workers has been increasing in the wake of the recession.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains provisions mandating that employers with 50 or more workers provide coverage beginning in 2014 or pay a penalty. The impact this will have is questionable, according to EBRI, which notes that 93 percent of employers with 50 to 199 employees provide coverage already. The percentage is higher among firms with more than 200 employees.
Experts suggest it is possible the PPACA penalty and other factors are causing employers to reduce their number of full-time employees and increase part-time staff partly due to the different benefit requirements. These concerns and reactions could complicate employee benefit plan administration and HR compliance as firms struggle to take care of their workers and succeed.
