Under North Carolina's small employer health insurance provisions, which employer meets the definition of a small employer?

Why C is correct

Under G.S. 58-50-110(22) and (10), a small employer is one that employed no more than 50 eligible employees on at least 50% of its working days during the preceding calendar quarter, and an eligible employee is a full-time employee with a normal workweek of 30 or more hours. Flipping the headcount cap into a floor, measuring across a full year, or looking only at hours worked without the headcount cap all fail the statutory test.

Why the other options are wrong

• A: 'At least 50 eligible employees on every working day' both turns the maximum into a minimum and tightens the 50% threshold to every single day; the statute caps headcount, it does not set a floor.
• B: The measurement period is the preceding calendar quarter on at least half of working days — not the full preceding calendar year (G.S. 58-50-110(22)).
• D: A 30-hour workweek defines an eligible employee, not the employer test; the employer qualification also requires the headcount cap of no more than 50 (G.S. 58-50-110(22),(10)).

Memory hook

Small employer: 50 heads or fewer on half the quarter's days.

Why A is correct

Under G.S. 58-50-110(22) and (10), an eligible employee is a full-time employee whose normal workweek is 30 or more hours, and a small employer is one that, on at least 50% of its working days during the preceding calendar quarter, employed no more than 50 eligible employees, with the majority of its employees in North Carolina. Since 2014 this definition applies to grandfathered group plans.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) The 20-hour figure is a relic of the repealed prelicensing requirement; the workweek threshold under G.S. 58-50-110(10) is 30 hours.
• C) 18 months is the group continuation period under G.S. 58-53-35(a)(1), not an employee-count limit.
• D) Neither the 45-hour workweek nor the 30-employee ceiling appears in G.S. 58-50-110.

Memory hook

Small employer: 30-hour weeks, 50-employee ceiling, counted on half the quarter's days.