10 ACA issues employers need information on

Spouses, foster children, stepchildren and non-U.S. citizens are not included as dependents under the rule that many employers now must cover dependents up to the age of 26. Certain adopted children, however, are considered dependents. A child is considered a dependent for the entire calendar month that he or she turns age 26, according to Groom Law Group.

An employer must count employees using the same method for all employees in a given category. The look-back period, according to Groom, “involves averaging the number of hours worked by the employee over the measurement period.” The employee categories are: Salaried employees and hourly employees, employees “whose primary places of employment are in different states,” collectively and non-collectively bargained employees and “each group of collectively bargained employees covered by a separate collective bargaining agreement.”