Whether you’re for it, or against it, the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has officially been in full effect for a little over a year now. This health care law requires that employers, whose business employs 50 or more full time employees, must offer its workers health insurance or face penalties that can exceed $2,000 per employee. Eligible workers must work at least 30 hours per week for the company in order to be entitled to receive health coverage and benefits under this law.
With Obamacare has come a wave of employers unwilling to pay up for the inevitable rise in costs of offering full-time workers health care. Their seemingly simple solution to this has been to reduce the hours of their employees. Essentially, companies have been seen forcing its workers go from full-time to part-time in order to have them work just under the threshold required to offer health benefits. However, a case recently filed by Lourdes Parra Marin, a former Dave & Buster’s employee, gives workers hope that they may be able to do more than just sit there and take it.
Marin alleges that Dave & Buster’s slashed her and other worker’s hours in order to sidestep paying increased costs in health care. According to Marin, she and other workers would have a case under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) which prohibits the company allegedly interfering with employees attaining these benefits. Dave & Buster’s tried to unsuccessfully have the case dismissed arguing that employees have no such entitlement and therefore no claim to benefits. A federal Judge in the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the plaintiffs stating that Marin who at one point received benefits from the company plan was then deprived of both current and future rights after the alleged act. Having the Judge allow the case to go forward opens the door for other workers across the nation to stand up against companies that try to get around the law by lowering their hours and not offering health benefits. With this precedent in place workers may soon be able to get more out of Obamacare.
If you or anyone you know has had their hours cut after the Affordable Health Care Act went into effect, you may have an ERISA claim. Give the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer a call for a free phone consultation at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website www.fslawfirm.com for more information. One of our attorneys will speak to you about your questions and concerns and help assess your situation in detail. Fitapelli & Schaffer is committed to fighting for the rights of hardworking employees to attain healthcare that should be offered by their employers.