Of course, company growth is the goal for any small fledgling business, but there comes a point where you need to make changes in accordance with the growing size of your operation.  As you reach the 50 employee mark, there are a number of regulations you should be discussing with your legal team to ensure you are fully compliant.

Employer Shared Responsibility Provision

If you have fifty or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees working at your company, you have to abide by the ESRP. You may be forced to pay a fee/fine if you do not offer affordable health insurance to every qualified employee.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

ACA Reporting – You also have the responsibility to report information once you have more than fifty employees, as outline by the IRS. The IRS requires certain employers to report whether they offered health coverage to staff, and details of said coverage. More information can be found HERE.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA is applicable to all public agencies, all public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees. This law states that an employer must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave each year for their staff. It also requires that the employee’s group health benefits be maintained during the leave.

Affirmative Action

An affirmative action plan is needed for any company that employees fifty or more people and has at least $50,000 in government contracts. More information on affirmative action plans can be found HERE.

EEO -1 Reporting

It is a requirement of the EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) Commission that any federal contractor that has at least fifty employees must fill out an EEO-1 report. This includes counts of employees broken down by job category, race, gender, and ethnicity.

Form 5500

This form is required by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is designed to collect data on various employee benefits, which can include insurance and pension plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act states that the form 5500 must be completed by any and all employers that sponsor a benefit plan. Benefit plans can include things such as dental, 401, medical, retirement plans, and more. For companies with under 100 employees, only the short version of the form (5500-SF) is required.

While we have touched on some of the most common and important regulations that affect groups with fifty employees, a more comprehensive list can be found HERE