Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

How Republicans plan to destroy your full-time job

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) speaks to reporters at a news conference following a Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington January 7, 2015.  REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst ;(UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) REUTERS

Why does America's New Congress hate America's workers?

The House will vote Thursday on what Republicans are calling the 'Save American Workers Act,' a proposal that would make it easier for employers to cut their workers' hours and paychecks and eliminate their benefits. It's a 'fix' to Obamacare that would change the definition of full-time work from 30 hours per week to 40. As the law stands, employers with 50 or more workers have to either provide insurance to 95 percent of their full-time employees or pay a fine. Republicans say that their proposal will create more full-time jobs.

On Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the bill would enable 'more people [to] work full time.' Late last year, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued the measure would protect the 40-hour work week by 'removing an arbitrary and destructive government barrier to more hours and better pay created by the Affordable Care Act.'

Facts, however, show that the law has not caused business to cut full-time positions. There hasn't been a glut of part-time jobs created, and not a surge in part-time workers who want full-time jobs. The Republican proposal would very likely do just that—turn full-time positions into part-time ones.

That’s because only a small share of workers today—7 percent—work 30 to 34 hours a week and thus are most at risk of having their hours cut below health reform's threshold. In comparison, 44 percent of employees work 40 hours a week, and another several percent work 41 to 44 hours a week. Thus, raising the threshold to 40 hours would place many more workers at risk of having their hours reduced. In short, it's the present legislation, not health reform, that threatens the traditional 40-hour work week the legislation’s sponsors say they want to protect.

There's every incentive in this proposal for bosses to cut employee hours—they can save a ton of money by getting almost as much work out of their full-time employees by shaving off a tiny bit of their hours, and won't have to provide benefits. That's why the Congressional Budget Office says the proposal would add $53 billion to the deficit over the next decade, and throw at least one million people out of insurance. That could put more people in Medicaid. It would also make premium rates in private insurance rise and increase the cost of federal subsidies in the exchanges.

The White House has issued a veto threat on the bill, so this effort isn't likely to pass. But Republicans are hellbent on doing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's bidding on this, so it's likely they'd find a must-pass spending bill to include it in at some point this year, forcing President Obama's hand.