Questions and Answers
When funding an HSA for employees, an employer you must contribute the same percentage of the deductible or same dollar amount for each employee in the same category. Do the rules allow employers to define categories by number of years of service with the company?
Years of service does not factor into the categories. The categories of employees for comparability testing (with the exception of collectively bargained employees) include: current full-time employees; current part-time employees; and certain former employees. Employers also categorize employees by their high-deductible health insurance coverage, either self-only or family coverage.
For these purposes, part-time employees are those who work fewer than 30 hours per week, and full-time employees work 30 or more hours per week.
The comparability rules are complex and an employer should refer to Treasury Regulation 54.4980G-0 through 5 to ensure compliance and seek the advice of a tax professional to determine the appropriate contribution amount for each employee.
(Posted: 12/26/2007)
