Staples is limiting the number of hours part-time associates can work to 25 hours a week, a move that has drawn the ire of disgruntled workers who claim it is a way to skirt impending rules requiring companies to provide health insurance for full-time employees or face a steep penalty.

According to an early December internal memo obtained by BuzzFeed that Staples sent to its store managers, the company described the decision to curb hours for part-time associates starting with the week ended Jan. 4 as "an effort to maximize scheduling flexibility." The retailer distributed "talking points" for discussing the change with part-time employees who regularly worked above the new limit — a brief script that that spells out three moments for the manager to "pause and check for understanding." Staples also noted in the memo that managers might need to hire more part-time workers to compensate for the reduction in hours.

While Staples didn't mention the Affordable Care Act, angry associates have taken to social media to point out that a major provision of the law, which takes effect next year, will count people working at least 30 hours a week as full-time employees. Companies of 50 people or more that don't provide affordable healthcare to full-time workers will be forced to pay a penalty of up to $3,000 per person.

One anonymous Staples employee, who says she worked 30- to 35-hour weeks for nine years, started a Change.org petition last month that's garnered more than 160,000 signatures, asking the retailer to refrain from limiting part-time shifts because she and others need the money from the extra hours. Some workers say they can't obtain one of the few full-time positions in stores while others are balancing the hours with school or children.

A representative for Staples told BuzzFeed that the limit on hours for part-time workers is not new and has, in fact, been in effect for more than a decade.

"We have reiterated the policy as we work to increase the efficiency of our retail network," Mark Cautela, a spokesman, said in an e-mail.

However, Cautela didn't respond to follow-up questions about why the memo said Staples was "implementing" the rule starting this month or why it used the phrases "new guidelines" and "new part time hour policy."