Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) issued the following statement on House passage of H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act. The legislation would repeal the 30-hour threshold for classification as a full-time employee under Obamacare and restore it to 40 hours.

“Forcing businesses to reduce hours and postpone hiring new workers is simply not fair to either growing small businesses or hard-working Americans. Small business owners in Tennessee have told me repeatedly that Obamacare’s mandate defining a full-time employee as someone working just 30 hours a week is hurting their ability both to create jobs and to provide workers with enough hours to provide for their families,” Blackburn said. “The SAW Act provides relief to small business owners by restoring the environment for those who want to expand their businesses and to help those that are unemployed or underemployed find a job.

“By raising the threshold to 40 hours, this legislation will help put more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans by allowing employers to provide hourly employees with more hours each week.”