As the long-awaited debut of so-called Obamacare approaches, it should come as no surprise that the single largest piece of legislation ever written - that directly impacts one-sixth of the U.S. economy - is giving rise to lots and lots of unexpected outcomes, both positive and negative.
Although the official launch is not until October 1st, three serious side effects have already emerged in the country's job market says Bob Funk, the CEO of Express Employment, the fifth largest staffing firm in the nation.
As we discuss in the attached video, this former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City cites the demise of the 40-hour work week as the first major theme that is emerging from the pending health care legislation. It's a trend that he's personally opposed to even though it is benefiting his staffing business.
''We're trying to go to full time employment. We'd love to have people on 40 hours a week but the government is going in just the opposite direction," Funk says, noting that lower-waged hourly workers are particularly likely to see their shifts cut from 40 to 29 or 30 hours a week by employers intentionally looking to dodge mandatory health benefits.
Related: Beware of Obamacare as Corporate America Adapts to New Policies
At the same time, Funk says he's seeing a trend where some small businesses no longer want to grow out of fear of becoming big, and find themselves required to offer the most costly and unpredictable benefit of them all. He says this "disincentive to grow" is not in the best interest of industry and is even causing some companies to consider placing their entire workforce on his staffing company's payroll rather than hiring them themselves.
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