WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) last week introduced the Forty Hours Is Full Time Act of 2013 (H.R. 2988), which seeks to change the Obamacare’s definition of “full-time employment” from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week.

H.R. 2988 mirrors a bill introduced in the Senate (S. 1188) in June by Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Donnelly.

“Even with the Administration’s recent decision to delay the Obamacare employer mandate for one year, we already know some employers are preparing to meet the law’s guidelines by slashing workers’ hours and forcing them to work 29 hours a week or less,” Lipinski said. “This is reducing the take-home pay for millions of Americans at a time when they can least afford it. The Forty Hours Is Full Time Act keeps the usual 40 hour full-time work week in place without sacrificing the goal of providing affordable, quality healthcare to Americans.”

Under Obamacare, employers with more than 50 full-time employees risk having to pay a fine if they do not offer health insurance to their workers. According to a recent University of California Berkeley Labor Center study, as many as 2.3 million Americans, mostly hourly workers in the restaurant, nursing home, retail and service industries, would see their hours cut as their employers adapt to the new rules, according a Lipinski.