The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a set of health insurance reforms passed by the federal government. Effective January 1, 2015, the ACA required large employers such as the UNT System to offer affordable health insurance benefits to all full-time employees. This requirement is often referred to as the “employer mandate” of the ACA and the fines for non-compliance can be severe.
Employee Categories under the ACA:
The ACA definition of full‐time is different than our current State of Texas statute. As such, we monitor benefits eligibility for our state benefit programs and eligibility for health insurance under the ACA using two differing standards. The ACA standards center around a 30-hour work week for benefits eligibility as described in detail below, while the State of Texas allows eligibility for some benefits based on a 20-hour work week.
Standard Full-Time Employees
Under the ACA, a standard full-time employee is one who works an average of 30 hours per week. This is measured and determined for the purposes of the ACA on a monthly basis as 130 hours worked per calendar month.
Variable Hour Employee
Under the ACA, a variable hour employee is one who works fluctuating hours each week or month. We must measure their average work hours over a longer period of time to determine if they are full-time under the ACA.
If a variable hour employee averages 30 hours per week, which is the equivalent of 1560 hours per 12‐month measurement period, they would be considered full-time and offered health insurance at the conclusion of the measurement period if they continue their employment with us regardless of how many months the employee worked less than 130 hours or how many weeks they worked less than 30 hours.
If, during the measurement period, a variable hour employee becomes a standard full-time employee, the university must offer the employee (and eligible dependents) the opportunity to enroll in an employee health insurance plan at the time in which they become a standard full-time employee.
Seasonal Employee
Under the ACA, a seasonal employee may work an average of more than 30 hours per week without being considered full-time provided these employees are limited to seasonal work only and do not exceed 120 days of work within their 12‐month measurement period, e.g. summer camp workers.
If an employee works multiple events or jobs throughout the year, even if each separate event or job is seasonal, that exceed 120 total days worked, then the employee would not qualify as a seasonal employee.
Measurement Periods:
Measurement Periods as defined in the ACA are not based on calendar or academic years. Under the ACA, a measurement period is a specific period of time in which an employer tracks hours worked by variable hour employees to determine their eligibility for health insurance under the ACA’s employer mandate. The following measurement periods are for variable hour employees and hours are counted in whole calendar months. (E.g., an employee hired September 14, 2024 will have an initial measurement period of October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025.). They will then roll into the standard measurement period of July 1st to June 30th of the next year. These periods will overlap July 1st – September 30th, so hours worked during these months are counted toward both measurement periods.
Initial Measurement Period
Each new hire has an Initial Measurement Period of the first 12 months of employment and then rolls into the next standard measurement period. The Initial and Standard Measurement Periods will overlap.
Standard Measurement Period
July 1st through June 30th
Administrative Period
July 1st through August 31st - Specifically used to identify and enroll eligible employees September 1st
Stability Period
September 1 through August 31st – used to ensure that employees who were full-time during a measurement period remain eligible for health insurance coverage for a set period, even if their hours fluctuate below the full-time threshold during the stability period.
Breaks in Service:
We have many rehires within the UNT System. In most cases a break in service must be more than 26 consecutive weeks before a new measurement period can begin. Therefore, please contact Campus HR if you are considering hiring a non-benefits eligible employee that was employed within the UNT System within the last six (6) months to determine if the break in service is required.
Guidelines:
Hourly Student Workers – Students working in student worker positions are considered temporary variable-hour employees. Because these positions are not intended to be retirement or benefits eligible, student workers may only work up to a maximum of 25 hours per week during the fall and spring academic sessions and up to a maximum of 40 hours per week during the winter, spring and summer break sessions, as long as the student’s total work hours do not exceed 1,560 hours during the consecutive 12-month measurement period following their date of hire, or any consecutive 12- month measurement period thereafter.
Student workers working an average of 30 or more hours per week will become eligible for employer-sponsored health insurance under the Employer Mandate of the ACA. Student workers who meet employer-sponsored health insurance eligibility requirements under the ACA will not be eligible to remain in student worker positions.
Generally, hours worked under a Federal Work Study Program are not counted toward the ACA eligibility requirement. Also, special work rules may apply to international students.
Non-Student Hourly Workers – Employees working in non-student hourly positions are considered temporary variable hour employees. Because these positions are not considered to be retirement or benefits eligible, employees in these positions may regularly work only up to a maximum of 19 hours per week, but may occasionally work up to a maximum of 29 hours per week as long as they do not exceed the following limits; 1) do not work 20 or more hours a week for a total of 18 weeks during any given academic/fiscal year, 2) do not work 30 or more hours per week for a total of 12 consecutive weeks during any 12 month period, and 3) do not exceed a total of 1,560 hours during the consecutive 12-month measurement period following their date of hire, or any consecutive 12-month measurement period thereafter. Any non-student hourly employee whose work hours exceed the limits must either be transferred to a benefits eligible position or immediately terminated.
Important Note: Non-Student Hourly Workers are also subject to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas (TRS) and Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) eligibility rules. In summary, the rules state that an employee who is working an average of 20 or more hours per week for a period of 4.5 or more months during any fiscal/academic year (September 1st through August 31st) will be eligible for TRS retirement and ERS insurance benefits. As such, following the established work hour limits in the guideline above for Non-Student Hourly Workers ensures employees working in these non-benefits eligible positions remain non-benefits eligible for TRS, ERS and ACA benefits.
Responsibility for Monitoring Employee Work Hours:
Supervisors are responsible for monitoring the work hours of their assigned hourly employees, ensuring that the total number of hours worked by employees working in non-benefits eligible positions remains within established limits and for taking the appropriate action if an employee’s total number of hours worked exceeds the established limited.
In addition, Campus HR Teams receive monthly reports of employees who have either exceeded, or with soon exceed the established work hour limits for their position and will then notify Supervisors accordingly. Since these reports are generally lagging by one to two months Supervisors should not count on these reports as their primary monitoring tool but instead focus on monitoring and controlling the scheduling and real-time approval of works hours of their assigned hourly employees.
Questions:
Please contact your department or Campus HR Team with any questions regarding position management, campus specific hiring policies, work hour guidelines for special student employment programs and for options of what to do when you identify an Hourly Student Worker or Non-Student Hourly Worker who has exceeded the allowable number of work hours.
UNT Campus HR Team – HRAdministration@untsystem.edu | 940.565.2281
UNT Health Fort Worth Campus HR Team – HSC.HR@untsystem.edu | 817.735.2690
UNT Dallas Campus HR Team - HR@untdallas.edu | 972.338.1410
UNT System Campus HR Team HR@untsystem.edu | 855.878.7650 (Option 8)
For specific questions regarding the ACA and other benefits eligibility rules, please contact the UNT System Benefits Team - HRbenefits@untsystem.edu | 855-878-7650.