there were two posts on this forum about kroger reducing hours on part timers due to obamacare. The sources these two posts cited were conservative websites where one actually cited the other. So there is only one source that makes this claim without citing anyone from kroger. The Doug Ross journal is where this rumor is coming from in which they are citing a source called Operative Faith, which is a religious website probably funded by the GOP. Heres the funny part, while Doug Ross journal cites operative faith, no site linked to operative faith quotes this but freedomworks.org cites doug ross which cites operative faith, which doesnt even have any stories stating this to be fact. I know conservtives are still upset about the rejection of their ideals and their party but until there is a senior kroger official on the record saying this is true then do not beleive it. This has even made it way into the stores but as of right now, there is no evidence to this claim.
I can quickly find and cite dozens of reputable articles that mention companies planning on cutting hours of full time employees because of ObamaCare......
Businesses with 50 or more employees who average at least 30 hours of work a week will be subject to the Obamacare insurance coverage mandate.
But, companies can potentially avoid being subject to Obamacare's insurance requirements by limiting employees weekly hours to less than the 30 hour level defined by Obamacare as full-time.
A little-known section in the ObamaCare health reform law defines full-time work as averaging only 30 hours per week, a definition that will affect some employers who utilize part-time workers to trim the cost of complying with the ObamaCare rule that says businesses with 50 or more full-time workers must provide health insurance or pay a fine.
The term full-time employee means, with respect to any month, an employee who is employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week, section 1513 of the law reads. (Scroll down to section 4, paragraph A.)
That section, known as the employer mandate, requires any business with 50 or more full-time employees to provide at least the minimum level of government-defined health coverage to those employees. In other words, a business must provide insurance if it has 50 or more employees working an average of just 30 hours per week, which is 10 hours per week fewer than the traditional 40-hour work week.
Thus, by cutting employees hours to ensure they average less than the 30 per week, employers could potentially avoid the cost of providing the minimum insurance levels mandated by Obamacare
-- Edited by thedude on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 09:02:23 AM
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I am no longer part of the oppressed, evil workforce of Kroger! Can you say "Hallelujah"
Obamacare was always meant to fail to get to a single payer system like Medicare for everyboday.
So no exec announcing this will happen is evidence it won't but no exec saying it will not happen doesn't give us any reason to be deeply concerned?
It's a $2000 fine per employee working 30 hrs or more without healthcare. That's $38.46/week per employee and about 5.5 hrs worth of pay at federal min wage. Where's the dowside for Kroger in cutting hours and adding employees?
Why would this happen in 2013? Because 2013 is the payroll baseline year upon which the IRC will decide compliance in 2014.
In response to the original poster, the source from Kroger is named 'faith' though this may be an alias. The word 'operative' is being used to denote faith's role as an insider or as a secret agent.
The stories circulating about Kroger cutting hours looks to be true. All of a sudden I am scheduled for no more than 28 hours per week. In the past I was able to get to 40 hours at other stores that needed help if I was scheduled for less than 40 hours. Now I cannot get over 28 hours per week.
Part timers can get health insurance, at least in some areas.
This does a good job explaining the recent trends in my schedule. All courtesy clerks, and all part timers I have seen a schedule for, are now operating at 29 or less hours a week. Prior to this, I had been working 38-32 hours a week, with a regular dip in hours to help prevent me from becoming full time. I had thought that it was strange that our new hire bagger was getting 27 hours this week, but if the goal is to get ALL part time employees under 30, they have done so while maintaining their regular (if constantly more and more inadequate) man hours for the front end.
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