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E-Flex Coalition Testifies at House Hearing on Employer ACA Challenges

ASA senior counsel Ed Lenz testified yesterday on behalf of the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-Flex) coalition at a hearing of the Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee. ASA is a founding member of E-Flex, and Lenz serves on its executive committee. His testimony at the “PPACA Pulse Check: Part 2” hearing focused on the unique compliance challenges under the Affordable Care Act faced by employers with large numbers of variable-hour employees.

While acknowledging the administration’s agreement to a “look-back” rule for determining the full-time status of variable hour employees for purposes of offering coverage, Lenz said that coverage eligibility “is only part of the equation.” Many other employer issues related to coverage, such as employee eligibility for tax subsidies and the employer reporting rules, remain unresolved, he said. Proposed reporting rules issued by the administration Sept. 5 fail to address those issues “holistically,” he added.

Lenz also asserted the coalition’s view that the 30 hours per week test for defining who is a “full-time” employee under the ACA does not reflect general employer practices and is creating perverse economic incentives to reduce employee hours. Lenz urged Congress to increase the hours required to be a full-time employee to more closely reflect employer practices.

You can read a copy of the full E-Flex statement at house.gov, and you can also watch a recording of the hearing.

Labor Secretary Pledges Aggressive Defense of Workers’ Rights

Wall Street Journal (09/10/13) Melanie Trottman

U.S. Department of Labor secretary Tom Perez yesterday vowed to vigorously defend employees’ rights in a speech at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations’ quadrennial conference. Perez said DOL will defend collective-bargaining rights, enforce wage laws, and move to improve workplace safety. He also said he will go after companies that unlawfully misclassify workers as contractors instead of as employees. This practice constitutes “workplace fraud,” he said, because misclassified workers are deprived of benefits such as unemployment insurance.

Perez also reiterated his support for an increase in the federal minimum wage, arguing against “the naysayers who claim a higher minimum wage stifles job growth.” The speech also offered a peek into how Perez intends to balance unions’ demands with companies’ concerns that some initiatives may stifle job creation.

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Little Changed

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (09/10/13)

A new report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the number of job openings nationwide at the end of July barely changed from the previous month at 3.7 million, and the 3.2% hires rate and 3.0% separations rate were little changed as well. There were 4.4 million hires in July, little changed for total nonfarm and government on a year-to-year basis but up for total private jobs.

The report also shows 4.1 million separations in July, with a quits rate of 1.7% for nonfarm, 1.9% for private, and 0.6% for government, and a layoffs and discharges rate of 1.1% overall. There was a net employment gain of 1.9 million during the year-to-year period, with a total of 52.1 million hires and 50.2 million separations.

Confidence Measures Show It’s the Politics

Bloomberg (09/10/13) Michelle Jamrisko

Consumer sentiment has become a less reliable gauge of the spending that supports growth, because U.S. consumers’ economic outlook increasingly is influenced by politics, according to data from the Bloomberg Comfort Index. Furthermore, automobile sales last month were the best they’ve been since November 2007, but two consumer confidence surveys showed declines in confidence, indicating that greater pessimism doesn’t necessarily result in reduced spending.

Indiana University Shifting 50 Jobs to Temporary Staffing Firm

Associated Press (09/10/13)

Indiana University plans to shift the work done by 50 hourly workers to a temporary staffing firm. ManpowerGroup will hire maintenance and custodial workers after Sept. 28. University spokesperson Mark Land says the decision to use the staffing firm is partly related to Affordable Care Act mandates.

Free ASAPro Webinar This Month—Social Media Success Stories

Investing in social media programs can boost your staffing firm’s business operations. Hear how three staffing firms benefited from devoting staff time and resources to their social media efforts during the ASAPro webinar “Promoting Your Firm—Social Media Success Stories.” It takes place Wednesday, Sept. 25, 3–4 p.m. Eastern time.

ASAPro webinars are free for ASA members and qualify for continuing education hours toward ASA certification renewal. To learn more and to register, visit americanstaffing.net.