At a town hall meeting in Iowa City, Iowa Hillary Clinton was asked by a supporter about companies moving to a mostly part-time workforce and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Clinton said that companies are going to a mostly part-time workforce because of restrictions in Obamacare.
"Well that's why they're going to part-time. That and the Affordable Care Act. You know, we've got to change that because we have built in some unfortunate incentives that discourage full-time employment," Clinton said.
In October, Bloomberg reported that Clinton had praised the health care law by saying the bill helped women so they are no longer charged more based on their gender and that it has helped families avoid bankruptcy. In September, Clinton further attached herself to the law saying that if she became president that she would not repeal it, as many Republican candidates have said they would. She added that she would even build on it by tackling the high out-of-pocket drug costs.
When Clinton first ran for the presidency in 2008 she had called for a harsher employer mandate and embraced the notion of "pay or play" insurance coverage mandate that included small businesses with under 25 employees.
At the town hall, Clinton said that employers feel that, if an employee does not work 40 hours a week, they are not entitled to the benefits that a full-time employee receives.
"There is a disincentive in our system that we need to deal with, and I really worry about it because there is a trend to try and move more and more people into part-time work," Clinton said. "And sometimes you want to work part-time, it fits into your family, it fits into your life obligations, but sometimes you want to work full-time but you can't get a full-time job. So I want to look at all the employment rules."