Milestone 05
Approaching 50 employees
Fifty is a legal threshold, not just a number. Health coverage and leave rules change, and your HR setup needs to change with them.
Your growth path
Each step has a guide
What you need now
- Track your full-time equivalent count. The ACA employer mandate applies to employers with 50 or more full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents.
- Offer affordable coverage. Larger employers that don’t offer qualifying health coverage can owe penalties, and must file annual ACA reports.
- Prepare for FMLA. Family and medical leave rules apply to private employers with 50 or more employees.
- Revisit your setup. Compare staying with a PEO against HR software plus a benefits broker. Either can work at this size.
- Write things down. A real employee handbook and basic manager training become important.
What can wait
- A full HR department. One HR lead, supported by a PEO or HR software, is usually enough.
- Enterprise HR suites. They’re built for much larger teams.
Coming next: At 100 employees, federal EEO-1 reporting begins and other rules, like WARN Act layoff notices, start to apply.
Guides and tools for this stage
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