 The intent of the employer mandate (along with a grandfather clause in the ACA) is to help ensure that existing employer-sponsored insurance plans that people like will stay in place.As no company with fewer than 50 full-time employees will face this penalty, many are concerned that the employer mandate creates a perverse incentive for business to employ people part-time instead of full-time.Several businesses and the State of Virginia have clarified the contracts of their part-time employees by adding a 29-hour-a-week cap, to reflect the 30-hour threshold for full-time hours, as defined by the law.