Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On Wednesday the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases involving religious objections made by corporations to a provision of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Affordable Care Act”), which requires employers to provide health insurance for employees that covers contraceptives.  The central issue in both cases is whether a secular for-profit corporation may be exempt from complying with the contraception mandate under the Constitution because of the owner’s religious views.

The employer shared responsibility rules under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will go into effect in 2014.  Government guidance was issued earlier this year on an important aspect of these rules – the determination of who is a full time employee.