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House passes bill defining full-time as 40 hours per week

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 30 this week, which if it becomes law would set the definition of full-time work to 40 hours per week.

January 9, 2015

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 30 this week, which if it becomes law would set the definition of full-time work to 40 hours per week.

The current definition of full-time work is 30 hours per week under the Affordable Care Act. Employers with 100 or more employees full-time employees must offer health care coverage to full-time employees. A 40-hour full-time definition would reduce the number of employees considered full-time, and reduce the number of employers mandated to provide coverage.

National Restaurant Association President and CEO Dawn Sweeney praised passage of H.R. 30 in a statement.

"The National Restaurant Association applauds the House passage of the 'Save American Workers Act.' We have long supported this bipartisan effort to set the definition of full-time under the ACA to 40-hours per week, reflecting more traditional workforce patterns — an issue critical to our industry. We appreciate the leadership of Representatives Young and Lipinski in pushing this bill forward on both sides of the aisle," said Sweeney in the statement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated the Senate will hear a similar proposal.

"The Association has worked with members of both chambers and political parties for years to address this challenging part of the law. Now that the House has done its part, we thank Senators Collins and Donnelly for introducing the '40 Hours is Full Time' bill and urge the Senate to come together and move this critical legislation forward for the good of restaurants and the business community at large," said Sweeney.

President Obama has signaled that he will veto any legislation aimed at changing the current definition of full-time under the ACA.