Local Employees Cut to Part-Time So Employer Can Avoid Healthcare Mandate

Employees of a fast food restaurant may only work 28 hours a week or less.  The cuts in hours at the Taco Bell in Guthrie kicked in at the beginning of the new year so that the franchise can legally avoid providing health insurance to its employees, on worker told Fox 25.

A manager at the location on S. Division  St., would not provide an interview, but did confirm the cuts to Fox 25 over the phone.

"I have three kids to support, so obviously getting my hours cut back from full-time to part-time takes a big chunk out of my paycheck," Johnna Davis, an employee who has been working at the Taco Bell since September said. "We're all in the same boat, some of us, not all of us, some of us are looking for other jobs, others are just  dealing with it."

Davis said she was working full-time, and told her hours would qualify her for an insurance plan starting in 2013, when she was hired.  But that changed in December.

"They held a store meeting, said everybody's hours would be cut... nobody would be considered a full time employee, that due to the Obamacare, if you work more than 30 hours they're going to have to supply insurance, so they don't want to supply insurance and therefore nobody would get over 28 hours," Davis said.

Under the Affordable Care Act, companies that employee more than 50 full-time workers fall under the health insurance mandate.  These companies will be required to supply insurance plans by 2014, or face fines.

The Taco Bell in Guthrie is owned by Treadwell Enterprises, out of Springfield, Missouri.  Treadwell Enterprises owns ten Taco Bell, KFC, Ruby Tuesday and Hut Hot locations in Oklahoma.  Phone lines to the main office in Springfield were not operational and Fox 25 did not receive and answer to a request for comment spent via email.Local Employees Cut to Part-Time So Employer Can Avoid Healthcare Mandate

Posted: Sunday, January 6 2013, 10:31 PM CST