Monday, Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theatre chain in the country, announced that thousands of employees will have their work hours cut — as a direct result of the added cost of the new ObamaCare mandates that become effective later this year.
In a memo to employees, management was blunt: “To comply with the Affordable Care Act, Regal had to increase our health care budget to cover those newly deemed eligible based on the law’s definition of a full-time employee.”
Fox News reports that, as a result of cutting employees’ work hours (which is, of course, the same as a pay cut), full-time Regal managers have resigned in “a wave” after their hours and pay checks were slashed by as much as twenty-five percent.
The manager told FoxNews.com ObamaCare has had the unintended consequence of taking food off his table.
“Mandating businesses to offer health care under threat of debilitating fines does not fix a problem, it creates one,” he said. “It fosters a new business culture where 30 hours is now considered the maximum in order to avoid paying the high costs associated with this law.
“In a time where 40 hours is just getting us by, putting these kind of financial pressures on employers is a big step in a direction far beyond the reach of feasibility for not only the businesses, but for the employees who rely on their success,” he said.
In order to avoid the added cost of providing health insurance for employees working 30 hours a week (as ObamaCare mandates), it only makes sense for companies to schedule employees for 29 hours. So anyone who was working full-time is now being hit with a 25% pay cut.
Moreover, in a jobless “recovery” like the one we’ve been suffering under for four long years now, employers hold all the cards. And even if someone is able to find another job, what are the chances that employer won’t be making the same decision to avoid the expense of ObamaCare?
The most under-covered story in the media this year is and will continue to be the effect ObamaCare is having on America’s working class — those who are losing their health insurance and the crucial work hours that can make all the difference when you live on the margins.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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