Due to regulations imposed by Obamacare, some businesses are cutting the work hours of their employees. This was a known, predicted consequence of the Affordable Care Act. Staples is just the latest newsworthy example.
Remember, businesses can only try to survive under the given set of rules—but some employees are having a hard time keeping that in mind when they see their pay stubs.
Ashley Lutz of Business Insider:
Staples threatens to fire employees who work more than 25 hours a weekPart-time Staples workers are furious that they could be fired for working more than 25 hours a week.The company implemented the policy to avoid paying benefits under the Affordable Care Act, reports Sapna Maheshwari at Buzzfeed. The healthcare law mandates that workers with more than 30 hours a week receive healthcare.If Staples doesn’t offer benefits, it could be fined $3,000 in penalties per person.Buzzfeed spoke with several Staples workers who revealed their hours have been drastically cut over the past year. Many reported working as few as 20 hours.The workers started a petition on Change.org asking the company not to “cut part-time hours because of Obamacare.”
It’s terrible that these folks are losing work hours, but it’s not unexpected, and it’s not the fault of Staples—that’s just as far as an employee wants to look when it’s suddenly gotten harder to pay the bills and feed their families.
You think it’s bad now, wait until people start dealing with their tax returns.
Richard Pollock of the Daily Caller:
Tax Day Shocker: Obamacare ‘Clawback’ To Hit Some Subsidy Recipients With Huge Tax BillAnyone who receives Obamacare subsidies could be in for a rude awakening this tax season.Four in ten low-income Obamacare participants will face sticker shock this April 15 when they discover they owe a great deal of money to the IRS because of a little-known “clawback” provision in the health-care law.A family of four could owe the government as much as $11,200, according to a 2013 prediction by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.The idea that struggling, low-income Obamacare enrollees would have to repay the government for subsidies has been a dirty little secret that has always been part of the Affordable Care Act.Although its existence has been known since 2010, neither Obamacare advocates nor the Internal Revenue Service have widely publicized it.
Funny. I don’t remember hearing that in the talking points.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
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