Thread regarding Sears layoffs

ACA (AKA ObamaCare) And The 30 hour work week

The 40hr "full time" work week is gone, and it is because of a 2009 law in the United States that is officially named "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". There is a provision in the bill that states that 30 hours is now considered as being "full time". Anything below 30 hours is now considered as part time.

Here is an excerpt from the IRS.GOV webpage regarding this topic:

"In general, for this purpose, an employer determines its number of full-time employees for a month by counting individuals employed on average for at least 30 hours of service per week during the month or at least 130 hours of service during the month. An employer determines its number of full-time equivalent employees for a month by combining the number of hours of service of all non-full-time employees for the month (but not including more than 120 hours of service per employee), and dividing the total by 120. For example, an employer that employs 40 full-time employees and 20 employees each with 60 hours of service in a month has the equivalent of 50 full-time employees in the month (40 full-time employees plus 10 full-time equivalent employees (20 X 60 = 1200, and 1200/120 =10))."

by Chris
| 1828 views | | 13 replies (last March 22, 2018) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+Sf97QsQ
Comment! It's anonymous!

13 replies (most recent on top)

We just got a few days payed sick leave in our state. the problem is that SHC now cut our vacation time by 90% and got rid of our personal time. So now we have payed sick leave , I think 4 days, but we lost a week of vacation and personal leave. Is this legal? Why get a state mandated paid sick leave and lose more vacation time and personal leave. Lost over 40 hours of leave but only gained 4 days paid sick leave. How is this fair?

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @4ert+Sf97QsQ

The problem is that the politicians damn well knew that companies would axe FT40 to avoid giving benefits and did nothing to stop them from doing so.

Honestly, it's done nothing but create more arguments for single-payer, IMO. Working two jobs that add up to 40 hours right now? You're screwed on benefits. Single-payer, you'd be safe.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @3rdw+Sf97QsQ

As much as I feel Obama was overrated and that the ACA is still pretty flawed let's be real here. It's not really the reason why Sears is failing. Its failure was well on the way to happening.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @2vix+Sf97QsQ

I know...and it's Obama's fault you're unemployed, your spouse is cheating on you, you burned your bacon and your toilet is clogged up, right?

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @2feh+Sf97QsQ

Still waiting on The Ultimate Deal Maker AKA Trump to give us the best healthcare ever, not just jobs, but Great Jobs Galore, and to drain that swamp, and to set term limits for the sorry assed people in Congress.

by Still Waiting
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Post ID: @1vpg+Sf97QsQ

I couldn't afford Sears health benefits before, or after ACA. I work in Home Services Illinois. Don't blame ACA for Sears shortcomings.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1gdc+Sf97QsQ

30 hours has made you FT at SHC long before the ACA.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1jbe+Sf97QsQ

Losing FT40 status was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused a couple of long term associates in our store to quit and find full time 40 jobs elsewhere....Their hours got cut to 30-32 hours which is 25% pay cut equivalent.....Bills still need to be paid at home

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1jpg+Sf97QsQ

@Sf97QsQ-1dwt I'm not even trying to excuse what the "CEO" of SHLD has been up to in trying to "rescue" the company, but what I do know is that increased regulation do not help the situation of an already fragile company!!

by Chris
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Post ID: @1cta+Sf97QsQ

@1dso - "I just think Obamacare was a HUGE mistake, a sick socialist experiment and its certainly not affordable." Okay big talker, then describe a better plan or system! If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem.

I am a former Sears associate who lost my job and health insurance when our store was closed. The ACA was an affordable medical lifeline that sustained me during my period of transition.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1xim+Sf97QsQ

Obamacare was a bad idea, through and through, for people and for businesses. Even though Sears is going through bad times financially, I'm sure that the number of FT associates would have been reduced anyways even if their financial situation was in better shape.

Healthier retailers (and other employers employing hourly workers) are eliminating the amount of full time employees they have solely to ease the burden of bankrolling the benefits mandated by Obamacare, aka the "Affordable" Care Act (Ha! Fat chance!).

Before you think I'm "Eddie Lampert" or some other wealthy businessperson, I'm not. I'm a lowly zone supervisor earning less than $45k a year. I just think Obamacare was a HUGE mistake, a sick socialist experiment and its certainly not affordable.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1dso+Sf97QsQ

If this is an attempt to not blame Sears for reducing their hours, it's not going to work.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1dwt+Sf97QsQ

Sears hired me 1998, and I was considered full-time FTA 30 hours a week. By the grace of God, I was able to get 35-40 hours a week. You can not make it on 30 hours a week. If you happened to be one of the few to be grandfathered in you received 40 hours a week. I know longer work for Sears, my store was closed last year.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1emm+Sf97QsQ

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