IECRM Seminar Helps Employers Prepare for Affordable Care Act Requirements

DENVER - March 27, 2014 - PRLog -- DENVER, Colorado -- March 27, 2014 -- IECRM, the leading trade association for Rocky Mountain electrical contractors, hosted a free seminar, “Basics, Strategies, and Tactics for Healthcare Reform and PPACA,” in Denver on March 18th. The seminar was offered to help businesses understand and prepare for the new employer requirements within the Affordable Care Act, and how to plan and implement safeguards to avoid penalty taxes. The seminar was presented by Jim Smallwood, President of Employee Benefits at Moody Insurance Agency, Inc. (www.moodyins.com).

Beginning in 2016, employers that have between 50 and 99 employees who work more than 30 hours a week must comply with the employer coverage requirements, or risk being hit with a penalty tax the following year.

This bracket can be complicated for electrical contractors, staffing firms, and other companies that may have a fluctuating payroll of employees who work a varied number of hours each week.

According to new guidelines introduced by the IRS, each “Variable Hour Employee” must be tracked by the employer upon hire. At the end of the tracking period, the employee will be classified as either part-time or full-time. If full-time, the employer is required to provide affordable and adequate health care coverage for that employee, or risk being hit with a penalty tax the following year.

Smallwood explained that the IRS tracking system can be “wildly complicated” for a company with many Variable Hour Employees. Thankfully, several payroll providers have integrated the tracking system within their software in order to take the burden off of the business owner.

Companies in attendance at the seminar included Blueprint Skilled Services, LLC, a construction staffing firm, New York Life, an insurance firm based in Longmont, and Bret’s Electric, LLC, an electrical contractor based in Frederick.

To sign up for future free seminars at IECRM, please visit www.iecrm.org/events. For more information about IECRM, please visit http://www.iecrm.org or call (303) 853-4886.