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Dr. Boozman's Check-up

The House recently passed legislation repealing the 30-hour work week rule, and I support efforts in the Senate to do that same. That’s why I cosponsored the Forty Hours is Full Time Act.

This legislation would change the Obamacare definition of full-time to 40 hours per week. 

Obamacare threatens job creation. The healthcare law forces companies to comply with the employer mandate that requires all businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance to their staff or pay a penalty. With the costs of health care skyrocketing, businesses that may want to hire more employees will instead spend more money meeting the requirements of Obamacare. 

We need to create policies that incentivize employers to hire and expand their business. Instead, Obamacare discourages job creation and gives businesses a reason to cut employee hours. Under the law, a full-time employee is defined as an individual working a minimum of 30 hours a week. The employer mandate has caused some businesses to stop hiring if they are close to that 50 full-time employees threshold and cut workers’ hours to less than 30. 

According to a Hoover Institution study 2.6 million Americans making under $30,000 are at risk of having their hours and wages cut as a result of Obamacare’s definition of full-time. The rule disproportionately impacts young, low-wage workers.

  • 60 percent are between the ages of 19 and 34
  • 90 percent do not have a college degree.
  • 63 percent are women.
  • More than 600,000 workers in the retail trade, 225,000 workers in the education industry, and 589,000 workers in restaurants, are at risk of having their hours and wages cut.