FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

IFA RELEASES NEW DATA SHOWING POTENTIAL JOB LOSS IN EACH STATE BECAUSE OF THE ACA

Launches New Member Web Site for Health Care Compliance

WASHINGTON, March 22,2013 – Coinciding with the three-year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the International Franchise Association released newly available data from a 2011 study by the nonpartisan Hudson Institute about the impact the employer mandate may have on millions of jobs in the franchising industry in all 50 states.

The Hudson study showed the employer mandate puts 3.2 million full-time jobs at risk in the franchise industry nationwide, and will add more than $6.4 billion in increased costs to franchise businesses, not including the cost of regulatory compliance. According to the data, in California, 320,000 of the state’s 925,000 total franchise jobs may be at risk. In Texas, 255,000 of the state’s 727,500 franchise jobs may be at risk. To view a complete list of the potential jobs at risk in franchise businesses as a result of the ACA, click here.

In addition, IFA launched a new online resource to educate the franchising community about the law. The new site, www.MakingSenseofHealthCare.org, contains tools and information for employers to determine which aspects of the employer mandate they are responsible for complying with and testimonials from franchise industry leaders regarding how they are adjusting their businesses and workforce to comply with the law. In addition, the site has an interactive feature to chat with IFA government relations staff in real-time to answer questions about the law. The site is sponsored by the Hylant Group.

“The ACA has made health care an inextricable cost of running a small business in America and continues to evolve with regard to its cost and complexity for franchisees and franchisors as the law becomes fully implemented ahead of 2014,” said IFA Senior Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy Judith Thorman. “Preparing your franchise business to deal with the ACA should be a top priority for franchisees and franchisors.”

A tool on the new website allows franchise owners to better determine if they are subject to the employer mandate by entering details of their workforces and scheduling. It also allows franchisees and other business owners to share their stories about experiences with ACA implementation.

IFA and franchise businesses have testified numerous times before Congress and submitted volumes of comments to regulators at the Departments of Treasury and Health & Human Services to recommend regulatory and legislative changes to the law that would ease the burden and costs of compliance to the nation’s 825,000 franchise businesses. In testimony before the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee on March 5, BrightStar Care Co-Founder and CEO Shelly Sun explained that the current definitions of “large employer” and “full-time employee” are particularly troublesome for businesses with flexible schedules and many variable-hour employees.

“Changing the definition of ‘full-time employees’ [from 30 hours] to more closely align with the current standard of 40 hours per week would help small businesses better manage their operations,” Sun testified.

A complete list of IFA testimony and comment letters is available on the new site.

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About the International Franchise Association

The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.