FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

IFA RESPONDS TO NEW DELAYS IN EMPLOYER MANDATE FOR SOME SMALL EMPLOYERS BUT NOT OTHERS

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2014—The International Franchise Association President & CEO Steve Caldeira released the below statement following today’s announcement by the Obama Administration to delay the Affordable Care Act employer mandate for employers with between 50 and 99 employees.

“This announcement is just another delay that while positive in the short term for some franchises, only postpones the inevitable and demonstrates the Affordable Care Act remains a significant problem for employers to implement.

“By picking winners and losers based on the size of a business, the administration has effectively placed another complicated hurdle on the backs of the small business community in coming to terms with this law.

“Additionally, this change still doesn’t provide the relief of the most onerous aspect of the ACA, the 30-hour definition of a full-time work week or the 50 full-time equivalent number.”

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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.

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Phone: +1 202/628-8000 Fax: +1 202/628-0812 www.franchise.org