Many employee benefits compliance obligations turn on the answer to a deceptively simple question: Who is the employer?
For organizations operating through multiple related entities, the answer is not always obvious. Importantly, however, it often determines whether employee counts must be aggregated and whether related businesses are treated as a single employer for purposes of applying employee benefits laws. As a result, employers may find that obligations under the ACA, COBRA, ERISA, or similar laws apply to otherwise small employers, even when no single entity meets the applicable definition of a large employer on its own.
To address these issues, employee benefits laws rely on the aggregated employer concepts of “controlled group” and “affiliated service group” status to determine when related entities are treated as one employer for specific benefits purposes. This publication focuses on why those determinations matter and how they affect common benefits obligations.