Group Size Determination

If an employer has more than 50 Full Time (FT) and Full Time Equivalents (“FTE”) employees, the employer must be quoted as a large group. The employer must be treated as a small group if they have at least one but not more than 50 FT and FTE employees.

To determine your workforce size for the purpose of determining your market size, you will:

1. Determine your total number of FT employees consistent with the instructions below.
2. Determine your total number of FTE employees consistent with the instructions below; and
3. Add your FT total and your FTE total together.

FT Counting Instructions

For each month of the prior calendar year, total the number of employees working an average of 30 hours or more per week during the calendar month or 130 hours or more during the calendar month. Divide that number by 12.

FTE Counting Instructions

For each calendar month of the prior calendar year, follow these two steps:

1. Combine the number of hours of service of all non-full-time employees for the month but do not include more than 120 hours of service per employee; and
2. Divide the total by 120.

To obtain your calendar year FTE total for use in the final market size calculation, add together the numbers for every calendar month of the prior calendar year, and divide that total number by 12.

The following employees should not be included in the count:

• Temporary employees
• Seasonal employees
• Leased employees
• Contracted employees
• Sole proprietors and partners in a partnership
• 2-percent S corporation shareholders
• Spouse of sole proprietors, a partner in partnership, or a 2-percent S corporation shareholder
• Retired or former employees on continuation of coverage

Need help calculating your FT or FTE count? You can use the official government calculator here: FTE Calculator