2014 will certainly be a year of many changes for the small business community. The Affordable Care Act will surely be a component of the uncertainty they feel, and the possible financial increase they expect because of it. Read more about this and other topics by following the links below.
The Advantages and Challenges of a Remote Workforce
Remote employment options are becoming increasingly popular for businesses and employees alike and the relationship can be mutually beneficial to all parties involved. Businesses have access to a much larger hiring pool, and can generally save on salaries and office space, while the employee saves on commuting and relocation costs as well as more flexibility in their work and personal time.
Automattic, software provider to blogging giant, WordPress, has been utilizing remote workers since 2005. Although the company is based in San Francisco, it employs workers from around the globe from as many as 26 different companies, according to an article published at Businessweek.com.
Staff and employers save with remote work
Automattic benefits by saving money on salaries. Instead of paying their staff based on wages appropriate for San Francisco and Silicon Valley, pay is based on the employee’s physical location. While that doesn’t benefit the employee necessarily, it does allow someone living as far away as Bangladesh a job opportunity without the added expense and inconvenience of relocating to California.
With the end of the year fast-approaching, America’s small business community looks back over the past 12 months of enormous changes and gridlock in Washington that has left them closing the books on 2013 with mounting uncertainty. The small business community across the country continues to face these challenges with 2014 on the horizon.
From the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to Congressional dysfunction in Washington resulting in a government shutdown and sequester, 2013 has become a year of big changes and lingering vulnerability for America’s smallest businesses.
Story ideas for what America’s small businesses have faced in 2013:
Implementation of the Affordable Care Act — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the online portion of the federal Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) marketplace through HealthCare.gov will be delayed longer than previously expected. Instead of the online marketplace, small employers who wish to purchase insurance through the SHOP can still do so by working with a certified broker or directly through an insurer—exactly the same way they purchase insurance now.
Next Obamacare crisis: Small-business costs?
Think the canceled health policies hurt the Obamacare cause? There’s another political time bomb lurking that could explode not too long before next year’s elections: rate hikes for small businesses.
Like the canceled individual health plans, it’s another example of a trade-off that health care experts have long known about, as the new rules for health insurance prices create winners and losers. But most Americans won’t become aware of it until some small-business employees learn that their premiums are going up because of a law called — oops — the Affordable Care Act.
