Snelling and the Affordable Care Act – ASA Statement of Principles

Now that our 3 part series on the Affordable Care Act has concluded, I thought it would be appropriate to state Snelling’s principles regarding our company’s commitment to compliance with the ACA.  In May, the American Staffing Association (ASA) approved a “Statement of Principles” demonstrates our industry’s commitment to ACA compliance and to the well-being of our employees.

These principles read:

While implementing the ACA presents challenges to staffing firms due to the unique characteristics of their work forces, the staffing industry is deeply committed to compliance with the law. To that end, ASA members commit to the following principles:

 We will comply with the law, both in letter and in spirit, and are committed to the legal and ethical management of our work forces pursuant to its provisions.  

1. We will use our expertise and experience to help clients address the new demands of the law and understand the nature and extent of the additional staffing costs they will incur.
2. We will work diligently to help our clients implement legitimate work force strate­gies and will not participate in practices that violate the law’s intent.
3. We will communicate to our employees both their new opportunities and their new obligations before the employer and individual mandates become effective in 2014.
4. We will continue to work with the government and other stakeholders as a proac­tive, constructive partner as the regulatory process moves forward.

America’s staffing companies match millions of people to millions of jobs every day: about 2.9 million per day, and 11.5 million per year. U.S. businesses turn to staffing firms to fill work force gaps, to augment their own staff, and to find new employees. Temporary staffing offers flexibility to both employers and employees, and often provides workers with a bridge to permanent employment. Temporary employees work in all occupations and skill levels, and a growing number are making flex­ible work a career choice.

All laws, with the Affordable Care Act being no exception, have a legal and an ethical component to them.  Snelling has every intention to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law, but we are not rushing to press with any guidelines and/or policies that may have to be changed later.  Everything is simply changing too much to concretely state a position and/or definitive solution.  It is safe and true to say that no one has all of the answers yet.

We will have the right answers for the right solutions at the right time.  As your workforce management partner, we can provide you with the temporary employee resources you need to satisfy your business needs and take on the burden of deciding whether to “pay” or “play” with respect to such individuals.  This allows you to reap the benefits of employing a flexible workforce – reducing risk, improving productivity and increasing profits.