Remember that 50th employee?

Almost exactly a year ago, we noted the pending demise of 50-employee companies. It now appears that even those fortunate enough to keep their current jobs (let alone obtain new employment) may be subject to reduced hours (and thus pay): "Under [the ObamaTax], employers' cost to employ workers will climb up to $96.15 per person in the 30th hour they work each week" That's because of a little-known "feature" of the ObamaTax called "Full Time Equivalent" (FTE). The purpose of FTE's is to discourage employers from hiring too many part-time workers by essentially combining multiple part-timers' hours and calling that one employee. So, for example, an employer with 48 actual full-time employees hires 4 part-timers. The IRS sees not 4 individuals working part time, but 2 working full-time, and that magic 50 employee threshold is reached (thus triggering mandates and fines additional taxes). But wait, it gets worse (seriously!): "Employers who offer health coverage that is deemed either too pricey or too skimpy will owe $3,000 for each full-time, 30-hour-per-week, worker who taps ObamaCare subsidies. Because the $3,000 fine is nondeductible, it's equal to $5,000 in deductible wages for a profit-making firm facing a 40% combined federal and state tax rate." Remember, these are (by definition) small businesses, allegedly the backbone of our economy. Well, they *were* the backbone of our economy. But wait, it gets murkier: Co-blogger Bob tipped me to this little gem: "Under the...
Source: InsureBlog - Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs