State RegulationsNC specificDifficulty 2/5
For purposes of North Carolina's health coverage rules for small employers, which employer qualifies as a small employer?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why B is correct
Under G.S. 58-50-110(22) and (10), a small employer is one that on at least 50 percent of its working days during the preceding calendar quarter employed no more than 50 eligible employees, and an eligible employee is a full-time employee with a normal workweek of 30 or more hours. Both the 50-employee cap and the 50-percent-of-working-days test must be met; since 2014 the definition applies only to grandfathered group plans.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) The cap is 50 eligible employees, not 100, and the working-days test is an essential part of the definition that this option omits.
- C) There is no 25-employee threshold in the North Carolina definition, and the test looks to the preceding calendar quarter, not the full year.
- D) The 30-or-more-hour workweek defines an eligible employee; the employer-level test is the 50-employee cap measured over half the working days of the quarter.
Memory hook
Small employer NC: 50 or fewer eligible employees on half the quarter's working days.