ASA has submitted comments on proposed employer regulations under the Affordable Care Act. The proposed regulations were issued Dec. 28 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The association’s comments, which were filed March 18, make several recommendations for how to clarify the obligations of staffing firms under the proposed “look-back measurement method” for determining employees’ full-time status. Among the recommendations is a proposed safe harbor under which certain employees who are assigned by employers with unusually high employee turnover would be presumed to be “variable hour” employees eligible for look-back treatment.

Comments on the proposed regulations also were filed by the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-Flex) coalition, which ASA and other major business groups formed in 2011 to represent employers of part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees in the rule-making process.

A public hearing on the proposed regulations is scheduled for April 23 in Washington, DC. ASA and other members of the E-Flex coalition will attend the hearing. You can read the ASA and E-Flex comments at americanstaffing.net.

Health care reform is the topic of a can’t-miss session at the 2013 ASA Staffing Law Conference, May 7–8 in Washington, DC. Only a few seats remain—if you have not yet registered for this event, visit americanstaffing.net.