Circle K Shifts Workers to Part-Time, Blames Obamacare

Circle K Southeast joined a growing list of national companies shifting workers to part-time status this week, in order to avoid paying Obamacare’s mandatory benefits, CBS-WTOC reports.

The alternative is to pay a $2,000 fine per fulltime worker who is not covered, leading Circle K to become the latest in a long line of companies to slice employee hours to avoid increased costs.

Regal Entertainment Group, the largest U.S. theater chain, specifically blamed Obamacare in April when it shifted many of its employees to below the 30-hour threshold to offset Obamacare, as did AAA Parking. Numerous restaurants, hotels and retailers have done or are considering the same.

Long Beach, Calif., located in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, is cutting back the hours of employees to avoid the penalty, as has the state of Virginia and the city of Dearborn, Mich.

In March, The New York Times noted an “unsettling trend” in the rise of part-time workers during the languishing economic recovery in the U.S.

Earlier this week, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean acknowledged patients will be damaged by the legislation, and longtime advocate Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Obamacare could cause premiums to go through the roof Thursday before trying to walk back the remarks.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has also said citizens purchasing new insurance policies for themselves this fall could face rising premiums due to the Affordable Care Act.

http://freebeacon.com/circle-k-shifts-workers-to-part-time-blames-obamacare/

 

good job Mr. President... Peleosi and Reid. Way to have the best interests of the country before politics.

 

Some businesses were keeping employee workweeks below full-time, to dodge benefits, 40 years ago.

 

A competent politician is one who learns from mistakes made in the past and does not repeat them.

 

True. Two things were different, 35hrs was part time and people were paid more for part time work in lieu of benefits.

 

Now why would they do that, Ricter?

 

So that the comparatively few in management can put as much money in their pockets as they can and as little as possible in the pockets of their workers. Now we can argue that if it weren't for management there would be no business, but if it weren't for labor there wouldn't be a business, either. This is just one more way that Man, the social animal, organizes into groups to counter the strong individual, and how strong individuals (ironically) organize into associations to counter that group.

 

The management does this because it has to compete. That's a strange term to you socialists, I know. But if Circle K takes on increased costs for employee healthcare, and it's competition doesn't, then Circle K has a hard time competing in the market. Even if it's competition wasn't the issue, raising costs means raising prices, as the expense is passed on to the consumer. They have all sorts of price elasticity studies that show them where prices have to be in order to sell goods and not make the consumer go elsewhere.

 

It's a level playing field, unless they figure out a way to cheat.

 

Great post. Obviously we don't have even one of them in this administration, and probably only a handful in Congress.