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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 13-C29RESOLUTION NO. 13-C29 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA ADOPTING THE LOOK BACK MEASUREMENT SAFE HARBOR UNDER THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WHEREAS, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") was enacted on March 23, 2010; WHEREAS, ACA added Section 4980H Shared Responsibility for Employers Regarding Health Care Coverage to Title 26 of the United States Code, the Internal Revenue Code (Section 4980H); WHEREAS, Section 4980H imposes an assessable payment on an applicable large employer when (1) it fails to otTer "substantially all" of its fnll-time employees (and their dependents) the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage or otTers coverage to "substantially all" of its full-time employees (and their dependents) that is "unaffordable" or does not provide "minimum value" and (2) any full-time employee is certified to the employer as having received a subsidy for coverage through the exchange ("Assessable Payment"); WHEREAS, the City of Azusa ("City") is considered an applicable large employer because it employed an average of at least 50 full-time equivalent employees on business days during the preceding calendar year; WHEREAS, the Department of Treasury issued proposed regulations regarding Section 4980H, that permit the City to adopt a look-back measurement method safe harbor in order to determine the status of an employee as fltll-time for purposes of determining and calculating the Assessable Payment (78 Federal Register 218, 243, January 2, 2013); and WHEREAS, the City intends to adopt the provisions of the look-back measurement method safe harbor in order to determine the full-time status of employees for purposes of the Assessable Payment. NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Azusa as follows: I) That all of the recitals set forth above are true and correct, and the Cmmcil so 11nds and determines. 2) The City establishes the look-back measurement method with regard to all ongoing employees as follows: a. The City establishes a twelve (12) month standard measurement period for ongoing employees. b. Starting with October 3, 2013, a standard measurement period will start each year on October 3rd and end the following year on October 2nd. c. The standard measurement period will be the period during which an ongoing employee's hours are measured. d. The City will establish an administrative period of ninety (90) days. e. The administrative period associated with the standard measurement period will start each year on October 3rd and end on December 31st. f. The City will establish a twelve ( 12) month stability period for ongoing employees. g. Starting with January 1, 2014, the twelve (12) month stability period for ongoing employees will start each year on January 1st and end on December 31 ''. h. For purposes of the 2014 stability period, a transitional measurement period will be implemented starting on May 1, 2013 and ending on October 31, 2013. 1. The administrative period associated with the transitional measurement period will start on November 1, 2013 and end on December 31, 2013. J. If an ongoing employee's employment status changes before the end of a stability period, the change in status will not affect the classifkation of the employee (as full or part time) for the remaining portion of the stability period. 3) On the start date of a new employee, the City will make a determination as to whether that new employee is reasonably expected to be a full-time employee. If the new employee is reasonably expected to be a full-time employee and is not a seasonal employee, the City will offer minimum essential coverage to that employee before the end of the employee's initial three full calendar months of employment. 4) If, based on the facts and circumstances at the start date of a new employee, the City is unable to determine that the employee is reasonably expected to be employed an average of at least thirty (30) hours per week over the initial measurement period, then the employee is considered a variable hour employee. 5) The City establishes the look-back measurement method with regard to new variable hour employees as follows: a. The City establishes a twelve (12) month initial measurement period for each new employee. 2 b. The initial measurement period will start the first day of tlle first calendar month after the start date, unless the start date is the first of a calendar month in which ease the initial measurement period will start on that date. c. The administrative period shall start the day following the last day of the initial measurement period and shall end no later than the last day of the first calendar month beginning on or after the first anniversary of the employee's start date. d. The City establishes a twelve (12) month stability period associated with the initial measurement period. e. If the new variable hour employee does not measure as a full-time employee during the initial measurement period, the stability period associated with the i nitialmeasurement period must not exceed the remainder of the standard measurement period (plus any associated administrative period). 6) A new employee will be measured during the first complete standard measurement period for which he/she is employed. This means that a new employee may be tested under an initial measurement period and at the same time be measured under the overlapping standard measurement period. a. If an employee measures as full-time during the initial measurement period, he/she will retain full-time status for the entire associated stability period (even if the employee does not qualify as full-time during the standard measurement period). b. If an employee does not measure as full-time during the initial measurement period, but qualifies as full-time during the standard measurement period, the employee must be treated as full-time during the stability period associated with the standard measurement period (even if that means coverage must be alTered before the end of the stability period associated with the initial measurement period). 7) When an employee is rehired after termination, upon return the employee will retain the status the employee had previously with respect to any stability period, except that an employee will be treated as a new employee: a. if the employee resumes employment after a period of at least 26 consecutive weeks with less than an hour of service; or b. if the period (measured in weeks) during which no services are performed is at least four consecutive weeks long and exceeds the number of weeks of that 3 employees period of employment immediately preceding the period during which the employee was not credited with any hours of service. 8) When an employee takes special unpaid leave (i.e. unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, unpaid leave under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, or unpaid leave on account of jury duty), to determine hours of service the City will exclude any periods of special unpaid leave during the measurement period and apply that average for the entire measurement period. 9) The City intends to employ its seasonal employees up to a maximum of five and one half months per year and seasonal employees are designated as at will employees. PASSED, Al'PROVED and ADOPTED this 6th day of May, 2013. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution No. 13-C29 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Azusa at a regular meeting held on the 6th day of May, 2013, by the following vote of the Council: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: GONZALES, CARRILLO, MACIAS, ALVAREZ, ROCHA COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE 4