Senator Collins' Reaction To Administration Decision To Delay Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement regarding the Obama Administration's decision to delay the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  On June 19, Senator Collins wrote to President Obama urging him to delay this penalty, which was set to go into effect on January 1, 2014.

"The decision by the Obama Administration to delay the employer mandate only goes to show how unworkable this law actually is," Senator Collins said.   "I've heard from countless employers in Maine who say that the onerous penalties and provisions in Obamacare provide perverse and powerful incentives to not hire new workers or to cut back on the hours that their employees are allowed to work.  The delay in these penalties does not fix the fundamental problems in this law.  For example, if the definition of a full-time worker as someone who works only 30 hours a week is allowed to go into effect, millions of American workers could find their hours, and their earnings, reduced."

On June 19, Senators Collins introduced the Forty Hours is Full Time Act, along with Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN), which would change the definition of "full time" in the ACA to 40 hours per week and the number of hours counted toward a "full-time equivalent" employee to 174 hours per month.  Under the ACA, a full-time employee is defined as an individual who works an average of at least 30 hours per week, which is causing confusion for employers struggling to understand and comply with this new law.