In yesterday’s Advisor, we heard from senior legal editor at BLR®, Jennifer Carsen, JD, concerning how to handle tricky Affordable Care Act (ACA) situations. Today we present more on that topic.
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Scenario #3
Full-time employee terminates employment and is subsequently rehired.
Boomerang Bob quits in a snit over the appalling state of the microwave oven in the break room, but sheepishly returns a few months later (bearing a brand-new microwave to boot). Bob is rehired on the spot. ACA impact?
Under the ACA, an employee who terminates and is then rehired may be considered a “new” employee only if he or she had a full break in service of at least 13 consecutive weeks (or 26 weeks for certain educational organization employers).
However, an employee may be treated as “new” after a break of only 4 or more consecutive weeks, if that break is longer than the employee’s prior employment with you. For example, if Boomerang Bob was at his company for only 6 weeks before quitting, and stayed away for 8 weeks, Bob’s employer could treat him as a brand-new employee for ACA purposes when he returned.
Anymore tricky ACA change-of-status situations you’ve been wondering about? E-mail them to me—if we have enough, We’ll round them up into a follow-up article.