Obamacare: Universities Have to Cut Work Hours for Students, Profs

Universities everywhere are scaling back on
part-time work opportunities for students and adjunct professors in
order to comply with the Affordable Care Act. According to Campus Reform:

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) is restricting student
work because of compliance issues associated with the Affordable
Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare.

In an email last week, MTSU President Sidney McPhee explained
that “due to our interpretation of the reporting requirements of
ACA,” graduate assistants, adjunct faculty members, and resident
assistants are barred from working on-campus jobs that exceed 29
hours of work per week.

Now, they cannot take on multiple campus jobs. …

Capping hours associated with on-campus employment is quickly
becoming the norm. Since 2012, at least 111 colleges and
universities have limited adjunct professor course loads, capped
student employment hours, or reduced hours for part-time faculty
according to a list compiled
byInvestor’s Business Daily.

I mentioned previously that the 30-hour cap was
going to really hurt student journalists unless Congress
approved some kind of exemption. But Obamacare’s ill-effects are
everywhere. Requiring employers to offer health insurance to
30-hours-a-week workers carries the same, entirely predictable
result as requiring employers to pay 30-hours-a-week workers more
money: fewer 30-hours-a-week workers.