Health Care Reform (HCR) Fulltime Mandate
Frequently Asked Questions(revised 05.20.13)
- Question: What is the HCR Fulltime Mandate?
Answer: Per regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as HCR, employers must offer fulltime employees (and their dependents) affordable health coverage by January 1, 2014.
- Question: What is meant by “fulltime” employment?
Answer: For purposes of HCR compliance, NMSU will define fulltime employment as an average of at least 30 hours of service per week over a 6-month period for all NMSU entities.
- Question: What employee types are included in this mandate?
Answer: All faculty, staff, student, and grad student are included in this mandate.
- Question: Why do we need to convert employee categories in July, if the effective date is not until January 2014?
Answer: In order to meet the effective date, NMSU will use a 6-month look back period (July – December) to determine if employees should be benefit eligible beginning January 2014.
- Question: What is a measurement/ lookback period?
Answer: In general, the lookback/measurement period allows the employer to select a period of time to measure whether the employee worked an average of 30 hours per week. If the employee worked an average of 30 hours per week during this period, the employer must consider the employee a full-time, benefit eligible, employee during the subsequent “stability” period, regardless of the number of hours the employee works during the stability period. NMSU will have a 6-month lookback/measurement period.
- Question: What is a stability period?
Answer: The stability period begins immediately after the lookback/measurement period. Calculation of the stability period depends on the length of the lookback/measurement period and whether the employee is determined to be a full-time, benefit eligible, and would therefore be entitled to benefits during the stability period. NMSU will have a 6-month stability period.
- Question: Who is responsible for tracking time worked during the lookback /measurement period?
Answer: The department is responsible for ensuring that employees work the appropriate number of hours according to their FTE at time of hire; however, HRS will assist in creating reports and monitoring hours worked to trend employee work hours. Employees should also be tasked with ensuring they are working the appropriate number of approved hours according to their FTE. To ensure employees are aware of the expectations regarding hours to be worked, all employees will be provided an offer letter upon employment by the hiring department. Templates will be provided by Employment Services.
- Question: Will temp staff at a .50 FTE or higher still be required to have a 90-day break in employment between jobs?
Answer: No, based on the new employment categories (see policy 4.30.10) non-regular temporary employees will be hired on an annual basis but may be hired continuously with appropriate approvals at a FTE of .74 or below.
- Question: Will term appointed staff require a break in employment between jobs?
Answer: Yes, term employment requires a break in service please refer to policy 4.30.10 for details.
- Question: Will temp faculty still be required to work a reduced FTE if they average .67 or greater for two consecutive years?
Answer: Yes, please refer to policy 5.15.40 for details.
- Question: What if I need to hire a temporary/adjunct faculty member to teach a full load of classes for 1 semester?
Answer: Departments will not be able to hire temporary/adjunct faculty at an FTE higher than .74 for a single semester. A decision will need to be made regarding splitting the load or committing to providing a full load to the temporary/adjunct for 2 consecutive semesters and hiring the person as a term appointment (see policy 4.30.10) for the academic year. Departments need to be aware that hiring a person directly into a term appointment will require payment of a higher fringe rate for budget purposes and is the preferred method of hire if it is anticipated the employee will work at a .75 FTE or higher from the beginning of the employment period to comply with HCR regulations.
- Question: Can an employee hold a temporary staff and temporary faculty employment concurrently?
Answer: Yes, however, since an employee cannot hold two exemption statuses under FLSA (exempt and nonexempt) the temporary faculty employment would have to be hired in an hourly (nonexempt) payment status. The hourly amount paid for the faculty role would have to be at a rate of pay equivalent to the hourly rate paid as a standard to faculty and cannot be adjusted to limit or avoid an overtime rate.
- Question: Who is responsible for funding the cost associated with the employment during the stability period?
Answer: The college/department is responsible for funding the position for any employee hired into a term position because he/she exceeded .74 FTE during the lookback/measurement period.
- Question: If two departments hire the same employee and is noncompliant with policy and HCR, who is responsible for hiring the employee in the benefits earning Term Appointment?
Answer: We encourage the two departments to work together to resolve. As a general guideline, the second department to hire the employee is likely to create the noncompliance issue, so should be the one to hire into the term appointment. However, it depends on the needs of the two departments and whether or not they can cooperate and resolve together.
- Question: What if an employee does not want benefits or has benefits from another source, do we still have to hire them into a benefit eligible position?
Answer: Yes, these individuals must be hired into a benefit eligible position (term position) for at least 6-months at an FTE between .75 and 1.0.
- Question: What if the employee does not want to work during the stability period?
Answer: Then the employee may submit a letter of resignation for the position that is offered to him/her. Note, the employee is required to have a break in service of longer than the period he/she had been employed in or at a maximum of six months.