With the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a special class of "Variable Hour" and "Seasonal" employees, who would not normally be considered eligible for health care plan(s), may now be deemed eligible by your organization based on the employee's average number of hours worked in a company-defined "Lookback Period." Employees who are deemed eligible will be designated as temporarily eligible for a defined duration, called a "Stability Period." This is administered through the available Variable Hour Employee Analysis tool and EANs. During an applicable employee’s Stability Period, designated benefit plans will ignore the employee's Full-Time/Part-Time employment status and will also ignore the plan's New Eligibility Waiting Period in determining the employee's eligibility for plan participation. Once the stability period has ended, the benefits system will revert to normal functionality, determining employee eligibility in the usual manner and, when necessary, unenrolling the employee from coverage according to pre-defined plan rules.
Related Help Topics:
Managing Employee Eligibility Information
Using the Variable Hour Employee Analysis tool
Creating a New Employee Class for Variable Hour Analysis
Adjusting the Stability Period Calculation Settings
Applying Stability Period Eligibility to Employees
Understanding a Stability Period