If you put off complying with Affordable Care Act’s employer requirements until the Supreme Court issued its ruling, the waiting game is officially over. A failure to get up to speed could leave you open to lawsuits.
“Employers who failed to move forward with implementation, now they have to get on the stick,” says attorney Stewart Manela, Arent Fox, Washington, D.C., warned during a conference call.
For example, your practice does need to comply with the W-2 requirement that became mandatory this year. According to the IRS, employers are required to report the value of employer-sponsored health care coverage in Box 12 of the W-2 form.
If you have employees who are nursing mothers on staff, review the ACA requirement that you provide places and break times for these employees, Manela adds. The Department of Labor provides a fact sheet that outlines your responsibilities.
For example, a bathroom can’t serve as a break area for nursing mothers. The DOL also notes that small businesses – those with 50 or fewer full time equivalent employees – must be able to demonstrate compliance would create undue hardship.
This law is very likely to become a source of litigation in the form of breach of fiduciary duties and whistleblower claims, Manela warns. Now is the time to start collecting records and preserving documentation to show you’re in compliance.