Washington, D.C. – Today Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) applauded the House’s passage of the Save American Workers Act of 2014, legislation similar to their bill, the Forty Hours is Full Time Act of 2013, which would improve the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Save American Workers Act of 2014 was introduced by Congressman Todd Young (IN-09) and passed the House with bipartisan support.
Collins said, “Small businesses are our nation's job creators, and we should be doing all we can to promote policies to help them thrive. Unfortunately, under the health care law, anyone working an average of just 30 hours a week is considered “full-time.” This will only cause some businesses to reluctantly reduce the hours of their workers to fewer than 30 hours per week. The bipartisan bill that Senator Donnelly and I have introduced in the Senate would change the definition of “full-time employee” in the health care law from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week – a common sense standard. I applaud the House vote and we will continue to work to secure its passage in the Senate.”
Donnelly said, “This is a common sense improvement to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would help Hoosier workers and employers. Most Hoosiers would agree that 40 hours is full time, which is why we need to make this change to the definition of ‘full-time’ employee’ in the law. Right now, employers are cutting their employees’ hours in order to follow the law, and that hurts the pocketbooks of many families across our state. Now that the House has passed this bill, I hope we can work together in a bipartisan way to pass this legislation in the Senate, making the health care law work better for families in Indiana and across America.”
Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with more than 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalents will be required to provide their employees with health insurance or risk facing a financial penalty. Under the health care law, “full-time employee” is defined as someone working 30 hours a week.
After hearing from employers and their employees in Maine and Indiana that the definition of a “full-time employee” should be changed in the Affordable Care Act, Collins and Donnelly worked on a solution and introduced the Forty Hours is Full Time Act in June 2013. Their bill would change the definition of “full-time employee” to someone who works 40 hours a week.
In Maine and Indiana, Collins and Donnelly have heard first-hand that businesses were being forced to cut employees’ hours due to the definition of “full-time” as an employee working just 30 hours a week. Collins and Donnelly have gathered support for the legislation from 12 cosponsors, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the 40 Hours is Full Time Act along with business owners and organizations.
Learn more about the Forty Hours is Full Time Act here.
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