Obamacare Notice REQUIRED by October 1

Don’t forget, you have until October 1, 2013 to give notice to employees about your healthcare policies and availability under the new Obamacare law. The Department of Labor requires that nearly all employers notify employees of the status of healthcare coverage at their work and the availability of possibly subsidized coverage through state run exchanges.

You can find more information on the DoL website on the PPACA or the site dedicated to this notice. There are actually two notices that need to be edited. The difference is whether you offer healthcare insurance to some or all of your employees or not. The two notices can be found at the sites linked to above. There is also a Spanish language notice on one of the pages. Employers that offer healthcare coverage to any employees should use the longer form whether you cover everyone or just one person.

The law firm of Fisher and Phillips has written a comprehensive article covering the notice and some tips and information on the parts that are optional. You can find the article here.

While this notice is mandatory for nearly all employers by October 1, and new hires within 14 days of hiring, the DoL has stated here that it will not fine anyone if they don’t comply. The notice is still required and our opinion is that you should provide the notice as directed to show good intent on complying with the DoL’s rules and regulations in general.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this notice.