How Mass Healthcare Law Reduces Employment

I have a fellow working for me as an hourly temp worker. W2 wages.  He was working 37.5 hours like everyone else. Turns out if he works more than 24 hours, we owe him health care benefits to the tune of 12k+ per year.  I want him to work 37.5 hours, he wants to work 37.5 hours, the owners of the company want him to work 37.5 hours. We can't give him a massive raise, nor a big paycut to fold in the benefits, so we had to cut his hours to 24.  Note that ALL parties are worse off for the lack of voluntary exchange here, and the collective is poorer for fewer goods and services being produced.

My first "real" job that positioned me for a career in my field was earned by working 80 hour weeks for hourly pay with no benefits, and I'm not the only one. This gateway to opportunity has been slammed shut by labor laws ostensibly written to "benefit" employees. Some benefit.