Target is going to stop offering health care to it's part-time employees starting April 1.
Target stated that "by offering them insurance, we could actually disqualify many of them from being eligible for newly available subsidies that could reduce their overall health insurance expense."
A piece of the Affordable Care Act says that starting in 2015, companies with 50 or more employees must provide all full-time workers with affordable health care or face a fine as high as $3,000 per-employee. This decision also comes after Staples was accused of cutting employee hours as a preemptive measure against the upcoming changes in health care law, causing outrage among their employees. Home Depot and Trader Joe's have also recently announced plans to cut benefits for part-time employees.
Target executive vice president Jodee Kozlak has stated that the company will provide a $500 dollar cash payment to all employees that are about to lose their health care. Less than 10 percent of the company's 361,000 employees currently participate in the insurance plan that is being discontinued, the company said in a blog post.
The retail giant also announced today that it would be laying off 475 employees and keep 700 open positions unfilled following a data breach in December that compromised about 40 million debit and credit card numbers.