If you are a large employer, you will face a penalty if you do not offer affordable coverage that meets minimum value to all of your full-time employees and their dependent children. If, as an employer, you’re unsure whether or not your seasonal workers are full-time employees, you can use a special measurement period (a three- to twelve-month look back, at your discretion) to decide if your employees are in fact seasonal or full-time. During this measurement period, you don’t have to offer coverage, but if it turns out an employee did work full-time during that measurement period, you must treat that employee as full time during a subsequent “stability” period (which must be the longer of six months or the length of the measurement period that you chose) and offer that worker health benefits regardless of their actual hours worked during the stability period. Full-time means the employee worked on average 30 hours a week over the measurement period.

In general, an employer is considered a “large” employer for the purposes of the Affordable Care Act if the employer has more than 50 full-time-equivalent workers per year. Seasonal workers do count among your full-time employees unless your business qualifies for the seasonal worker exemption. The seasonal worker exemption applies if: a) you had more than 50 employees for fewer than 120 days, and b) during the 120 period you would have had fewer than 50 employees if you excluded your seasonal workers. The 120 days (or 4 months) do not need to be consecutive. For example, Farm A has 30 full-time, year round employees, and hires 25 workers to work 50 hours per week during a 2-month planting season in the winter, and then invites the same crew back for a 3-month harvest season in the fall. Farm A is a “large” employer because the Farm employs more than 50 full-time workers for more than 120 days.

Farm B has 30 full-time, year round employees, and hires 25 workers to work 50 hours per week during a 3 month harvest only. This employer is a “small” employer because the number of full-time employees exceeded 50 during a period that is less than 120 days, and during that time the seasonal worker exemption applies, because after excluding the seasonal employees you had fewer than 50 full-time workers.

If you are a large employer (you have more than 50 full-time equivalent employees), you may owe a penalty if you do not provide affordable and minimum essential coverage to all of your full-time employees. A full-time employee is one that averages more than 30 hours per week of work, although there are special rules for employees with variable hours.

If you’re a full-time worker and work for a large employer, your employer will face a penalty if they don’t provide coverage. Some employers may opt to take the penalty and not offer coverage. Check with your employer to see what they offer.