ACA Guidelines for break in service

Summary

ACA Guidance (Educational Institutions):Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employees of educational institutions who experience a break in service of at least 26 consecutive weeks may be treated as new hires upon re-employment. This allows employers to restart measurement periods and apply new waiting periods for benefits.Breaks in service shorter than 26 consecutive weeks require the employee to be treated as a continuing employee.

Accordingly, if an employee was previously measured as ACA full-time and experiences a break in service of less than 26 consecutive weeks, upon rehire into either a temporary or permanent position with MCPS, the employee must be offered and receive benefits consistent with a continuing employee, as if no break in employment occurred. The employee’s ACA benefit journey should resume based on the prior measurement and stability period. This requirement needs to be configured on the journey and benefits module to comply with ACA guidelines