Full-time under the ACA is a number of hours, not a job title.
The employer mandate defines a full-time employee by hours of service, regardless of what the agency calls the position. For a workforce whose schedules follow client need, that definition catches more caregivers than owners expect.
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Thirty hours a week, or 130 in a month.
What Is Actually True
A full-time employee under the ACA is one who averages at least thirty hours of service a week, or 130 hours in a calendar month. The label on the role does not change that.
A caregiver the agency thinks of as part-time can meet the test in a busy stretch, which matters for any agency subject to the mandate.
What We Do About It
We run the test on your actual payroll hours so you know how many caregivers cross the line and how often.
From that we show which caregivers must be offered coverage and which positions sit close enough to the line to need watching.
From a job title to a measured count.
What We Need
A year of hours by caregiver from payroll.
What We Do
We apply the thirty-hour and 130-hour tests and list who qualifies in each period.
What You Get
A caregiver-by-caregiver result and a short list of borderline cases.
Questions on this topic.
Short answers for agency owners.
Does the thirty-hour test count paid time off?
Hours of service include hours worked and hours for which an employee is paid or entitled to payment, such as paid leave. We confirm how your payroll records them.
Is the 130-hour monthly test the same as thirty hours a week?
It is the regulation’s monthly equivalent of thirty hours a week. An employer using the monthly method applies it to each calendar month.
What if a caregiver is just over the line one month?
That depends on the measurement method you use. A documented method keeps a single busy month from changing status unpredictably.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm the rules that apply to your agency with your attorney or tax advisor.
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