Equifax Workforce Solutions Helps Businesses Understand “Affordable Care”

With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) under way, Equifax Workforce Solutions wants to help employers understand and calculate business costs of “affordable care.”  The leader in HR, payroll and tax management, compliance and workforce insights has used its data to create “The Affordable Care Act and the Hourly Workforce” infographic, which offers a snapshot of hiring, pay and turnover trends. The infographic is designed to help employers better understand these current trends in healthcare for better preparation for the ACA with more accurate predictions of the legislation’s impact on their hourly workforce.

The new infographic can also help employers answer questions like:

-Who will become eligible for coverage?

-When will they become eligible?

-How much will premiums cost?

Infographic highlights include:

• Average workload for the hourly workforce varies greatly by industry and can be a key indicator of workforce eligibility. For example, hourly employees in the Finance industry work an average of 37 hours per week while those in the Restaurant industry work an average of 23 hours per week.

• 71 percent of hourly employees have been at their jobs longer than 12 months; this represents a significant number of workers who may become eligible for coverage after their employer’s first measurement period.

• Employers must also offer affordable coverage to all eligible employees, meaning that the monthly premium cannot exceed 9.5 percent of the employee’s income. Based on the average hourly pay rate by industry, estimated maximum premiums can range from $108.80 per month (Restaurant industry) to $251.20 per month (Healthcare industry).