President Obama doesn’t understand how anyone could blame the Affordable Care Act’s definition of the 30-hour work week for job losses and wage cuts around the nation.
In an exclusive interview with Buzzfeed Tuesday, Obama tried to shame American companies that didn’t understand the spirit of his flagship law.
Starting last month, under Obamacare, companies with 100 or more full-time workers either cover their employees’ health care or pay penalties of $2,000 to $3,000 per employee. But this only applies to employees who work 30 hours or more a week.
The Obama administration has said since the law was first signed that this was to encompass more people, but opponents of the law have long warned that it would lead to cutbacks.
And to be sure, reports of companies going to great lengths to make sure workers do not exceed that threshold have been trickling in since that time.
Buzzfeed asked Obama about office supply chain Staples, which told part-time workers that if they put in more than 25 hours a week they could be fired.
“There is no reason for an employer who is not currently providing health care to their workers to discourage them from either getting health insurance on the job or being able to avail themselves of the Affordable Care Act. I haven’t looked at Staples stock lately or what the compensation of the CEO is, but I suspect that they could well afford to treat their workers favorably and give them some basic financial security, and if they can’t, then they should be willing to allow those workers to get the Affordable Care Act without cutting wages,” Obama said.
“It’s one thing when you’ve got a mom-and-pop store who can’t afford to provide paid sick leave or health insurance or minimum wage to workers … but when I hear large corporations that make billions of dollars in profits trying to blame our interest in providing health insurance as an excuse for cutting back workers’ wages, shame on them.”
Post by BuzzFeed News.
