| [May 07, 2013] |
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Kronos Survey Shows Many Part-Time Employees Confused About Affordable Care Act; Not Getting Much Help From Employers
CHELMSFORD, Mass. --(Business Wire)--
A new survey commissioned by The
Workforce Institute™ at Kronos
Incorporated and conducted online by Harris Interactive (News - Alert) in April
among 2,066 U.S. adults reveals that many part-time employees - those
who will likely be most impacted by the Affordable Care Act - are
confused about what the impact will be and are not getting much help
from their employers.
News Facts
-
Most part-time workers have heard of the Affordable Care Act: 71
percent said they were familiar with the changes associated with it;
21 percent said they have not heard anything about it; and 7 percent
said they have heard the name but are not at all familiar with the
changes associated with it.
-
Information on the Affordable Care Act is coming from a variety of
sources: the news media (61 percent); friends and family (38 percent
each); and social media (36 percent) all ranked high on the list. Only
8 percent said they had heard about the Affordable Care Act from their
employer.
-
When asked how they felt about the changes associated with the
Affordable Care Act, 27 percent said "confused", 25 percent said
"hopeful", and 22 percent said "angry".
-
When asked how much better or worse they thought their quality of care
would be under the Affordable Care Act, 31 percent thought it would be
worse; 30 percent weren't sure; 23 percent thought it would not be
impacted; and 16 percent thought it would be better.
-
When asked if they thought their healthcare would cost more or less,
45 percent thought it would cost more; 30 percent weren't sure; 17
percent thought it would not be impacted; and 9 percent thought it
would cost less.
-
48 percent of part-time employees don't think that the Affordable Care
Act will have any impact on how many hours they are scheduled to work;
33 percent aren't sure; 15 percent think they will be scheduled for
less hours; and 4 percent think they will be scheduled for more hours.
-
64 percent of part-time employees say they usually work the hours they
are scheduled to work, while 32 percent say they usually work more,
and 4 percent say they usually work less.
-
A slight majority of part-time workers say they use an automated
system to track their hours at work - 56 percent versus 44 percent who
do not.
-
Only 27 percent of part-time workers say their employer uses an
automated system to create their schedule, 64 percent don't, and 10
percent aren't sure.
Supporting Quotes
-
Paul DeCamp, partner, Jackson Lewis LLP and former Administrator of
the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division
"There
are a lot of interesting data points in this survey and many of them
should be of interest to employers around the country. Overwhelmingly,
part-time workers are confused about how the Affordable Care Act will
impact them in virtually every way and only 8 percent have heard
anything about it from their employers. Organizations need to start a
dialogue with employees to begin to shed light on this important issue
and mpower them with information as it becomes available."
-
Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute, Kronos (News - Alert)
Incorporated
"Organizations have a lot of work to do to get
ready for complying with the Affordable Care Act in January 2014. Our
survey found that 44 percent of part-time workers do not use an
automated system to capture their time and 64 percent report their
part-time employers don't use an automated scheduling solution. This
means that a lot of folks are doing this work manually, and they'll
have a hard time complying with the look- back and reporting
requirements of the legislation. Perhaps more troublingly, 36 percent
of workers say that the hours they work are different from the hours
they are scheduled to work, which could present a liability issue for
employers. The time to start putting a strategy for compliance in
place is now."
-
Tim Porter-O'Grady, Senior Partner, Tim Porter O'Grady Associates,
Inc.
"As with other segments of the population surveyed, it
appears as though part-time employees are also uncertain and confused
by the elements and implications of The Affordable Care Act. Their
uncertainty relates very much to lack of familiarity with the details
of the Act as it applies to full and part-time employees as well as
how the act changes the landscape of health service. However, I'm not
certain that the survey verifies that employees are any more
knowledgeable and clear about their current health insurance coverage.
The survey indicates the need for policy leaders and employers to
generate clear and accurate information regarding health insurance
coverage and the impact of ACA on the lives of their employees."
Supporting Resources
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within
the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Kronos from April
12-16, 2013 among 2,066 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 249 are
employed part-time. This online survey is not based on a probability
sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting
variables, please contact [email protected].
About The Workforce Institute
The Workforce Institute was
founded by Kronos Incorporated in 2006 as a think tank to provide
research and education on critical workplace issues facing organizations
around the globe. By bringing together thought leaders, The Workforce
Institute is uniquely positioned to empower organizations with the
knowledge and information they need to manage their workforce
effectively and provide a voice for employees on important workplace
issues. A hallmark of The Workforce Institute's research is balancing
the needs and desires of diverse employee populations with the needs of
organizations. For additional information, visit www.workforceinstitute.org.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in
delivering workforce management solutions in the cloud. Tens of
thousands of organizations in more than 100 countries - including more
than half of the Fortune 1000® - use Kronos to control labor costs,
minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Learn more
about Kronos industry-specific time and attendance, scheduling, absence
management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications at www.kronos.com.
Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works™.
© 2013 Kronos Incorporated. All rights reserved. Kronos is a registered
trademark and the Workforce Institute is a trademark of Kronos
Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of
their respective owners.
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