The Marketplace Notice
Every US company that is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act is mandated to provide the exchange notice to every employee, regardless of plan enrollment status or of part-time or full-time status. The Department of Labor considers a notice to be provided at the time of hiring if the notice was provided within 14 days of an employee’s start date. According to the DOL, the notice should inform the employees:
- About the Health Insurance Marketplace;
- That, depending on their income and what coverage may be offered by the employer, they may be able to get lower cost private insurance in the Marketplace; and
- That if they buy insurance through the Marketplace, they may lose the employer contribution (if any) to their health benefits [1]
If your company wishes to provide the notices to it’s new hires, the DOL has provided two separate model notices that can be used:
Compliance
The peculiar thing about the Marketplace Notice of Exchange is that the Affordable Care Act requires that FLSA employers send out the notice, but there isn’t actually a fine or penalty under the law for companies that fail to do so. That being said, if your company is currently not providing this notice, there’s really no need to panic, as there’s essentially no consequences for failure to provide it. Nevertheless, most attorneys and benefit consultants would advise that it is simply good practice to provide the notices to new hires, either in print form or electronically, in order to decrease any liability or risk associated with a DOL audit or an employee lawsuit.
If you would like to review whether your company is meeting its compliance requirements regarding the distribution of benefit-related notices, we are here to help. Please feel free to contact us at any time.