Most employers must give a notice about the upcoming health exchanges/marketplaces to all existing employees by Oct. 1, 2013. Employees hired after that date must receive the notice within 14 days following their start date.
All employers who are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must give the notice. This includes:
- All hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities regardless of size
- All public and private preschools, elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education, regardless of size
- All governments and governmental agencies, regardless of size
- All other entities with $500,000 or more in annual dollar volume
The notice must be given to all employees, including temporary, seasonal, part-time, and full-time workers, even if the worker is not eligible for coverage under the health plan sponsored by the employer. It does not need to be given to COBRA participants, retirees, or dependents.
The Department of Labor has provided two model notices, one for employers that offer medical coverage to some or all of their employees and one for employers that do not offer coverage. Both English and Spanish versions of the model notices are available. The model notices may be found on the Department of Labor website, under Notice to Employees of Coverage Options.
The same notice may be used for all employees, even if they live in different states. The notice directs the employee to the federal government’s website (http://www.healthcare.gov/) which has created a page for each state.
For additional information about this requirement, see our responses to Frequently Asked Questions.
