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Few companies provide additional employee benefits than what is legally required so that the employee’s morale is high and productivity is better. Below are a few questions that have been answered regarding employee benefits: Q. What is the meaning of the term employee benefits?
Perks or extra benefits that an employer provides to the employees are known as employee benefits. The benefits offered may differ from one company to the other. Some of the common benefits offered by most companies are health insurance, life insurance, vehicle upkeep, meal subsidies, disability benefits, rent allowance, education assistance, vehicle purchase loans, etc. Q. If there are a few employees who are eligible for Medicare, can these employees be excluded from the employer sponsored health plan?
An employer is required to offer the same health plan to all employees. Therefore, Medicare eligible employees are also required to receive the employer sponsored group plan. If the group plan is not offered to these employees; the employer may be sued for age discrimination. As per the Medicare rules, for employees in the age group of 65 and above, the private health insurer must pay the medical bills prior to Medicare benefits being activated (if more than 20 employees are employed by the employer). Any differences, deductibles, etc. need to be borne by the employer. However (if less than 20 employees are employed by the employer), Medicare should cover the medical bills first and the supplement needs are to be paid by the employer's group health plan. Q. If the payment of vacation time has been approved and paid for by the supervisor; would it be legal for it to be recovered later?
It is necessary for a company to pay the vacation time payment as it is an earned benefit. Further, the company may need to honor the payment of vacation time as the supervisor approved it based on the authority that was vested upon him/her. Q. If an employee is on leave as per the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), is it possible for a company to charge benefit insurance plan premiums?
All benefits that an employee was entitled to before the employee went on a family and medical leave should be retained by the employer. However, the employer may change the health insurance plan if it is being changed for the entire full-time employee population. Q. Does an employer have the rights to change the terms and conditions of the employee benefits package?
Employee benefit is an additional benefit that is offered by an employer. It is not a mandatory requirement. If it was being offered by the employer previously, then the terms may be changed or the benefit revoked completely at any time. However, if the employment contract has a clause with regards to the employee benefits, then any alteration to the terms will depend on what is mentioned in the contract. Q. Consider a situation where an employer wants to provide his/her employees with health benefits. The company is in the state of New Jersey. How many hours should the employees work to be considered as full-time employees?
A minimum of 25 hours needs to be worked by an employee to be eligible to receive benefits under the New Jersey Small Employer's Health Coverage Program. This would apply to a “small employer” who employs between 2 to 50 eligible employees. Q. An employee is in the process of getting a surgery done in the near future and has employee benefits. Can the insurance company revoke the benefits of this employee?
An employer has to provide prior notice to the employee before cancelling the health insurance. One may ask the insurer the reason for termination of insurance. Also, one may ask the employer to restore the health insurance if it was cancelled without prior intimation. Q. In Massachusetts, if an employee is on a leave of absence; is it required for the employer to provide employee benefits such as medical insurance?
Unless the leave of absence is due to a medical condition or is as per the contract, there is no provision under Massachusetts law that makes an employer to pay for an employee’s medical insurance while the employee is on a leave of absence. Q. In the state of Tennessee, one salaried employee gets two weeks of vacation while four weeks is given to others. Can this be termed as discrimination? Is it a legal requirement to provide vacation days for employees?
Tennessee is considered to be an at-will employment state if there is no written employment contract. The terms of employment are decided by the employer. Further, there is no legal requirement for an employer to give vacation days or employee benefits. However, these should not be refused based on age, race, sex, or disability, as this would amount to workplace discrimination. Classification of an employee is also a factor that would determine the number of leaves. IRS and the Department of Labor rules are very strict regarding this. If there is a complaint filed with regards to misclassification, the Department of Labor will do a reclassification based on the results of an investigation. This will not have an impact on the employee benefits. Employee benefits provided vary from one employer to the other. In order to have a better understanding of the legal aspects of employee benefits, one may need to take the help of an employment lawyer.
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