Ascioti, who owns Reliable Temps Inc., in Agawam, Mass., and hires about 1,000 workers each year, ran afoul of the state mandate that he insure 25 percent of his workers.

“They took a cookie-cutter approach to an issue that wasn’t general enough for a cookie cutter,” he said.

Such penalties make Doug Newman, owner of Newman Concrete Services in Richmond, Maine, nervous. In the past 18 months, as the economy battered the construction industry, Newman’s work force shrunk from 125 employees to just 25.

He is worried that once the economy turns and he begins to hire back workers, he’ll face a critical decision when he nears the 50-worker mark and is no longer exempt from penalties. Newman now pays 60 percent of his employees’ individual premiums and 40 percent of their family premiums.

written by ylb