Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. will shift the beginning of its employee health plan to temporarily stave off potentially millions of dollars in fines while its legal challenge to a federal mandate on emergency contraceptives proceeds.

The shift will allow Hobby Lobby to dodge penalties for several months that are part of the Affordable Care Act, the company said Thursday. The health care law requires the company to cover the cost of the emergency contraceptives for its employees or face up to $1.3 million in fines each day it fails to comply with the law, beginning at the inception of their insurance plan year.

A representative for Hobby Lobby declined to elaborate on how long the company will have before its new plan year will start — when the federal mandate on emergency contraceptives coverage would kick in.

“Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its health care plan,” corporate general counsel Peter Dobelbower said in a statement.