These employers have a few special interactions with the ACA, the three of note are as follows:
⦁ Employee Break of Service
⦁ When an employee misses four or more consecutive weeks of work
⦁ For the determination of Full-Status during a measurement period, the weeks that makeup the Break of Service are not counted into the average, this effectively means that employees are not penalized
⦁ ie: Daniel had a break of service for 6 weeks, when the measurement period ends, it would only average his hours of service for 46 weeks (based on a 12 month SMP)
⦁ 26 Week Rule
⦁ Non-Educational Organizations normally must comply with a 13-week parity rule in order to rehire an employee as a “New Hire”
⦁ Educational Organizations operate on a 26-week parity rule, to help ensure that employees are not taken advantage of after school-based time off such as winter break
*Note – A Staffing Agency providing temporary employees to a school also follows the 26 Week Rule
⦁ Adjunct Faculty Hours of Service
⦁ Usually paid for specific academic means, such as instructing a course rather than a normal hourly or salary pay
⦁ In fact, most Educational Organizations do not track the hours of adjunct faculty
⦁ The IRS issued guidance on the determination of said hours, to ensure that these employees were not inadvertently left out of the health coverage offerings to Full-Time employees
⦁ 2.25 hours of service per week for each credit hour
⦁ This effectively credits an extra 1.25 hours for associated activities, performed outside of the classroom
⦁ However, this is purely a suggestion from the IRS, the employer is responsible for making sure a proper method is applied and well-documented