Washington, D.C. – January 8, 2014 – – The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) today praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 30, the “Save American Workers Act of 2015,” sponsored by Rep. Todd Young (IN-9) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-3). This legislation addresses a flaw in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and restores the definition of full-time employment back to the 40-hours per week which the American workforce has utilized for decades.

“Changing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) definition of a full-time employee back to the traditional 40 hours is a crucial adjustment needed to ensure the law is made more workable for hoteliers – many of whom are small businesses – and more importantly their hard-working employees,” said AH&LA president and CEO Katherine Lugar. “The healthcare law’s existing – and arbitrary – 30-hour definition severely restricts the scheduling flexibility so valuable to our industry’s workforce. In many instances, these employees may end up taking a second job in order to make up the income shortfall caused by fewer working hours.”

Just this week, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) introduced the bipartisan Forty Hours is Full Time Act in the Senate.