ACA on Demand, ACA Compliance Center: Setup: Measurement Periods

The Measurement Period is used to determine each on-going employee’s status.

• It is one of three time frames that make up the Employer Shared Responsibility provision of the ACA.
• The IRS guidelines permit a measurement period that is a defined period of time between 3 and 12 consecutive calendar months.
• The time frame is chosen by the employer.
• Once established, the measurement period tracks standard salaried, standard hourly and new variable hour employees.

After the measurement period, is an administrative period.

• The administrative period is the period of time that the employer makes offers of coverage to the employees.
• The administrative time period must be 0-90 days.
• This is often referred to as the company’s benefit enrollment period for the upcoming health insurance plan year.

The third period is the stability period.

• The stability period represents the period of time, after a measurement period, when full-time employees are provided health insurance coverage.

The Measurement Period Setup screen displays the necessary data points required to establish the companies Measurement Period for the three types of employee categories.

The three types of employee categories are:

1. Standard Salaried Employees
2. Standard Hourly Employees
3. New Variable Hour Employees.

Setting up the Measurement Period

To establish your companies measurement period, click the edit field in the bottom left corner of the screen.

► Important Note: Once you have populated all of the fields and select 'SAVE' the measurement period screen is locked. This prevents edits. Any edits to a measurement period will have a negative impact to compliance tracking. To 'unlock' the screen, contact your service provider.

Standard Salaried Employees: A salaried employee that has worked the length of at least one full measurement period.

► Must be 3-12 months.
► The length of the administrative period is 0-90 days.

Standard Hourly Employees: A hourly employee that has worked the length of at least one full measurement period.

► Must be 3-12 months.
► The length of the administrative period is 0-90 days.

New Variable Hour Employees: A new employee that has not completed the length of the measurement period. A new variable hour employee is typically a new hire.

► Must be 3-12 months.

► The measurement period start on a new variable hour employee is either the employee's date of hire or the 1st of the month following the date of hire (example - if hired on 6/15/16 the tracking begins on 7/1/16)

► The length of the administrative period is 0-90 days.

Hourly Employees use Salaried settings: Check this box to track a hourly employee the same way salaried employees are being tracked

Measurement Period Length: The timeframe that an employer tracks their employee’s hours worked by month to determine the number of FTE’s (Full Time /Full Time Equivalent Employees) on file. The measurement period must be 3-12 months in length.

Measurement Period Start Date: The date that the measurement period starts.

Administrative Period Length: The period of time that the employer makes offers of coverage to the employees. The administrative time period must be 0-90 days. This is often referred to as the company’s benefit enrollment period for the upcoming health insurance plan year.

*The sum of the measurement and administrative periods cannot exceed 13 moths

Stability Period: This follows the Measurement Period and typically follows the same time frame as the measurement period. As an example, if the measurement period is twelve months, then the stability period is also twelve months. The stability period must be at least six months and no longer than one year.