ACA Requirement to Reduce Student Work Hours

Student workers are facing a change as UW-Milwaukee implements an hourly work cap in response to a new requirement under the Affordable Care Act.

Although most students work part-time, the new requirement limits students to working a maximum of 25 hours per week. Students are turning to social media to voice their worries, calling the hour cap “unfair” and saying they are “terrified of the cuts.”

Senior Juli Stefannic is a mathematics major averaging nearly 40 hours a week. She said that with the cut in hours she will lose nearly $1,000 a month.

“I feel like I wasn’t given enough time to really think about my options,” Stefannic said.

This change will impact students who have little to no savings, which will only get worse with a lower paycheck. And it’s not just students that will feel the strain, but businesses too.

“I’m worried about how my work place will change,” Stefannic said.

At the start of 2016, the ACA will require employers to offer healthcare to employees who work thirty-hours a week. This time cap will be augmented throughout the UWM system.

The ACA policy is only implemented during the 39-week school year, but allows students to work full time outside of the scheduled school year. Changes to accommodate this policy will be effective Jan. 1.