Once hired, many employees were surprised to discover that the full-time jobs they applied for and were hired to fill were actually part-time jobs.  On top of that they were informed that as part-time employees they would not be eligible to receive health care benefits in their new Obamacare support jobs.  These new part-timers were given the opportunity to contribute to their health care benefits as a part-time employee at a cost of $600 per month.  The cost for an individual to enroll in Obamacare through a health insurance exchange is $243 per month.  After doing the math all but 42 part-timers left.

Anna Bakalis, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 1021 said the situation at the new call center follows a government employment trend of “part-timeization,” where formerly full-time jobs are now part-time so agencies don’t have to offer health benefits.  Does anyone else see the irony here?

As it stands now the contact center is trying to come up with a 50-50 split of full-time and part-time positions.  In the meantime they are dealing with the fallout that has come from hiring people with no health care benefits whose job it will be to help people get health care benefits.