EPISODE 116
LEVEL A2
READING COMPREHENSION
The end of full-time employment?
The nation’s largest movie theatre chain has cut the hours of thousands of employees, saying in a company memo that ObamaCare requirements are to blame. Regal Entertainment Group, which operates more than 500 theatres in 38 states, last month rolled back shifts for non-salaried workers to 30 hours per week, putting them under the threshold at which employers are required to provide health insurance. The Nashville-based company said in a letter to managers that the move was a direct result of ObamaCare.
This is not an isolated incident at this one company — it is already happening everywhere in the service business. The tree fell in the forest months ago, but it is only just now being heard.
A retail service business, operating campgrounds and public parks, with over 400 employees knew from the day that the PPACA (or “ObamaCare”) passed it would be too large to be exempt from the law and that it would have enormous, even catastrophic effects on its business. So its lawyers have spent a lot of time studying the law and its associated regulations to understand exactly how it will affect the business. Which has been difficult, since some of the key regulations that would apply to us (e.g. around seasonal work forces) have not even been written yet, just 8 months now before the law is to take effect.
But one thing has been very clear: The best way to be “safe” and avoid the costs imposed by the law was to have one’s workers be classified as “part-time”, or for this particular law working less than 30 hours per week. The other fact that emerged from some IRS rule-making was that whether a worker was to be classified as part-time on January 1, 2014 would be based on his or her work patterns in 2013. This is why savvy companies were planning hard for work force changes last year. The goal was to get every worker in the company under 30 hours a week before 2013 even started.
With new technologies in place more businesses may follow suit and make their employees switch to other, flexible forms of employment, such as home office. In the future most of us might end up being one-person companies rendering services for multiple clients.
Adapted from Forbes
Exercise 1
Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following:
1) selling items to individual clients: __________
2) to not be covered by some rule or regulation: __________
3) related laws: __________
4) to have consequences for somebody or something: __________
5) to be able to be used with respect to something: __________
6) to become a law that people have to obey: __________
7) the American President’s healthcare plan: __________
8) very big: __________
9) rules: ___________
10)to formally say that something must be done: __________
11)to behave in a similar way: __________
12)the American tax authority: __________
13)teleworking: __________
Exercise 2
Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:
1) movie theatre hours
2) to cut sb’s shifts
3) a company health insurance
4) to roll back costs
5) non-salaried based company
6) to provide as part-time
7) to impose business
8) the service chain
9) to be classified workers
10)a Nashville memo
Exercise 3
Provide English equivalents of these expressions:
1) sieć
2) pracownicy nieetatowi
3) sektor usługowy
4) handel detaliczny
5) być wyłączonym z
6) wejść w życie
7) przepisy wykonawcze
8) stosować się do
9) spółka z siedzibą w …
10)pójść w czyjeś ślady
11)odprowadzać składki na
ubezpieczenie zdrowotne
12)obciążać kosztami
Grammar corner…
The nation’s largest movie theatre chain has cut the hours of thousands of employees, saying in a company memo that …
A retail service business, operating campgrounds and public parks, with over 400 employees …
… rolled back shifts for non-salaried workers to 30 hours per week, putting them under the threshold at which employers are required to provide health insurance.
The underlined words introduce what is called in English a PRESENT PARTICIPLE CLAUSE. Just like relative clauses, covered previously, they add extra information to your sentences. The difference is that instead of a relative pronoun, e.g. which, whom, whose, we use a verb in a continuous form, i.e. with the -ing ending. It is a more advanced way of adding information in a short, brief and concise way suitable for business purposes.
Exercise 4
Rewrite the sentences using present participle clauses:
1) Employees who are working full time may have their hours reduced.
2) Many people falsely claim they are exempt from taxation. Doing so puts an enormous strain on the budget.
3) He has recently invested a large sum on the IT market. It has made him a billionaire overnight.
4) People who have innovative business ideas are often considered crazy.
5) If you find yourself in a situation in which you work more than you rest, you should be careful not to become a workaholic. (2 options)
6) The new employment laws which the government is introducing will be bad for employees themselves. (please use passive voice)
7) The person who is in charge of the project is doing a great job.
8) The company which has its registered office in a tax haven will be investigated by the IRS.
9) The firm, which owns several subsidiaries, has been charged with using unfair business practices.
10)He keeps his full time job. He runs his own business at the same time. (please use while)
GLOSSARY
a tax haven – raj podatkowy
IRS (Internal Revenue Service) – amerykański urząd skarbowy
a subsidiary – spółka zależna
a registered office – siedziba spółki
to be charged with … – zostać oskarżonym o …
to be in charge of … – być odpowiedzialnym za …
to find yourself in a situation – znaleźć się w sytuacji
overnight – z dnia na dzień
to falsely claim something – złożyć fałszywe oświadczenie
to put a strain on the budget – nadwyrężać budżet
non-salaried workers – pracownicy nieetatowi / pozaetatowi
a chain – sieć (np. restauracji, sklepów)
to render services – świadczyć usługi
savvy – przezorny
to provide health insurance – odprowadzać składki na ubezpieczenie zdrowotne
to be exempt from … – być zwolnionym z … (np. podatku)
to take effect – wejść w życie
to impose costs – obciążać kosztami
associated regulations – przepisy wykonawcze
to require something / a requirement – wymagać czegoś / wymóg
to apply to something – stosować się do czegoś (np. stosuje się przepisy kodeksu cywilnego)
employment pattern – schemat zatrudnienia
seasonal workforce – pracownicy sezonowi
>>Answers
ANSWER KEY:
Ex. 1
1) retail
2) exempt from
3) associated regulations
4) to affect sth
5) to apply to sth
6) to take effect
7) ObamaCare
8) enormous
9) regulations
10)require
11)to follow suit
12)IRS
13)home office
Ex. 2
1) movie theatre chain
2) to cut the hours
3) a company memo
4) to roll back shifts
5) non-salaried workers
6) to provide health insurance
7) the service business
8) to impose costs
9) to be classified as part-time
10)a Nashville-based company
Ex. 3
1) chain
2) non-salaried workers
3) service business / sector
4) retail
5) to be exempt from
6) to take effect
7) associated regulations
8) to apply to
9) a …-based company
10)to follow suit
11)to provide health insurance
12)to impose costs
Ex. 4
1) Employees working full time may have their hours reduced.
2) Many people falsely claim to be exempt from taxation, putting an enormous
strain on the budget.
3) He has recently invested a large sum on the IT market, making himself a billionaire
overnight.
4) People having innovative business ideas are often considered crazy.
5) If you find yourself working more than you rest, you should be careful about
becoming a workaholic.
6) The new employment laws being introduced by the government will be bad
for the employees themselves.
7) The person being in charge of the project is doing a great job.
8) The company having its registered office in a tax haven will be investigated
by the IRS.
9) The firm having several subsidiaries has been charged with unfair business
practices.
10)He keeps his full-time job while at the same time running his own business.
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