This week, Target announced that it will no longer offer health insurance to part time workers. Target joins a long list of companies who have made the same decision, including Trader Joe’s and Home Depot. Details about the announcement can be found here.
There is a clear trend developing and the days of part-time employees being eligible for company-sponsored health insurance look to be numbered. Many companies already have low participation rates from part-time workers, and the economics of the new exchanges, and the subsidies available for low income workers, have even further eroded the need for such plans. Of course, the big question is whether this step is just the first in a long term trend towards moving employees from full-time to part-time positions to avoid paying for the cost of healthcare.