With the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act settled, employers can anticipate an “avalanche” of guidance from the regulatory agencies on the various provisions of the law as their effective dates arrive, says Littler Mendelson, a national law firm.

Among the number of pending regulations that will be particularly important to employers, Littler says: the requirements under the pay or play employer mandate, the definition of a full-time employee under the law, rules detailing the employer obligation to offer automatic health coverage enrollment for employees, and the application of the nondiscrimination rules to insured plans. The law firms points out that “it is important to recognize that a significant portion of the formal guidance has been issued on an ‘interim’ basis and final changes may be forthcoming.”

“Important new obligations are looming, including summary of benefits and coverage requirements and W-2 reporting of health care coverage,” the law firm says. “In addition to the many provisions already in effect or that will soon become effective, employers should be making critical decisions now about the more important provisions set to take effect in 2014. Perhaps the most important business and strategic decision will be whether a company maintains its health coverage for full-time employees or decides to accept the employer penalty. Employers also face related questions about how full-time status will be defined, and whether their coverage will be deemed ‘unaffordable’ or not providing ‘minimum value,’ thereby triggering a penalty. Even though 2018 sounds far away, any strategic decision by employers must also take into account the Cadillac tax as they continue to consider ways to control health care costs.”