November 8, 2012, - 5:08 pm
In Prep for ObamaCare, Employers Move Full-Time Workers to Part-Time, Limit Hours
We’re now seeing the horrid results of ObamaCare, with many employers hiring only part-time employees, moving existing full-time employees to part-time, and limiting the hours they can work to well below full-time. This is happening with low-wage hourly workers–those who can least afford to lose full-time status and the ability to work more hours. Under ObamaCare, large companies only have to provide health insurance for full-time workers, and these part-time employees will have to bear the cost on their own, under the regressive Obama healthcare tax. The move means that fewer Americans will be able to find full-time work and that more Americans will have to bust their butts to work more than one job to survive the Obamaconomy. For all the “taker” voters who chose Obama and his “gimme, gimme, gimme” worldview, they are now about to get taken, er . . . get what they deserve. I’ve previously said on this site that Americans are the Ned Beatty in Obama’s ObamaCare “Deliverance.” Here’s more evidence how true that is:
Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul’s requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.
Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker.
The shift is one of the first significant steps by employers to avoid requirements under the health-care law . . . .
Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500 employees, after the Supreme Court upheld the health-care overhaul, said Chief Executive Chris Russell. The company has 210 franchise hotels, under the Sheraton, Fairfield Inns, Hampton Inns and Holiday Inns brands.
“The tendency is to say, ‘Let me fill this position with a 40-hour-a-week employee.’ “Mr. Russell said. “I think we have to think differently.” . . . . Mr. Russell wants to limit his exposure to rising health-care costs. He said he planned to pursue new segments of the population, such as senior citizens, to find workers willing to accept part-time employment.
He described the shift as a “cultural change” toward hiring more part-timers. . . .
CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger chains, began two months ago to hire part-time workers to replace full-time employees who left, said Andy Puzder, CEO of the Carpinteria, Calif., company. CKE, which is owned by private-equity firm Apollo Management LP, offers limited-benefit plans to all restaurant employees, but the federal government won’t allow those policies to be sold starting in 2014 because of low caps on payouts. . . .
Home retailer Anna’s Linens Inc. is considering cutting hours for some full-time employees to avoid the insurance mandate if the health-care law isn’t repealed, said CEO Alan Gladstone. Mr. Gladstone said the costs of providing coverage to all 1,100 sales associates who work at least 30 hours a week would be prohibitive. . . .
Benefits consultants said most retail and hotel clients have explored shifting toward part-time workers. . . . “They’ve all considered it,” Matthew Stevenson, a workforce-strategy principal at Mercer. In a July survey, 32% of retail and hospitality company respondents told the consulting firm that they were likely to reduce the number of employees working 30 hours a week or more. . . .
The insurance mandate applies to companies with the equivalent of 50 or more full-time workers, a calculation based on the number of people employed by the company and an average of hours they work in a week. Companies are adjusting schedules now because they will have to review employment rolls for up to a year in advance to determine which workers will be deemed full-time under the law. . . .
Darden Restaurants Inc. was among the first companies to say it was changing hiring in response to the health-care law. The Orlando, Fla., parent of Red Lobster and Olive Garden in February began testing hiring part-time workers in four markets to replace some full-time employees who had left, a spokesman said.
Ken Adams said his 10 Subway restaurant franchises in Michigan have about 60 employees who work 30 hours or more in a given week. Before year-end he plans to cut their hours to below 30 and, in some cases, to reduce positions altogether, he said. A Subway corporate spokesman said it was up to individual franchisees to make such decisions.
So, remind me again how Obama will “turn the economy around” in the next four years, when companies have just told us his policies are going to put more Americans out of work.
Look for things to get a lot worse around America very fast EVEN BEFORE ObamaCare kicks in. This is happening right now.
Tags: Alan Gladstone, Andy Pzder, Anna's Linens, Barack Obama, Carl's Jr., Carpinteria, Chris Russell, CKE Restaurants, Darden, Darden Restaurants, Fairfield Inn, full-time, Hampton Inn, Hardee's, Holiday Inn, Ken Adams, Matthew Stevenson, Mercer, obamacare, Olive Garden, part-time, part-time hiring, Pillar Hotels & Resorts, Red Lobster, Sheraton, Subway
Obama fought the law and the law won – the law of unintended consequences, that is.
Harry on November 8, 2012 at 5:13 pm