Precedent??Supidity???Yep!

ScorpioHR

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-25-04 AT 09:04PM (CST)[/font][br][br][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-25-04 AT 06:31 PM (CST)[/font]

oops, I was soo angry I spelled "stupidity" wrong...LOL - Is "supidity" a word????xflash


I work for a small group of physicians-When the business was new (2 years ago) they made every effort (and I do mean EVERY!) to hire the top of the line technicians. As one of the lures, they told them if they did not need/want/care about the employee health plan, the company would compensate then in cash for the amount normally paid toward an ee's benefits- Well, 2 people took the money- One has since left, and the other is still with us-She gets her cash the 1st of every month-Here is the problem. When I came onboard I said "WHAT, WHAT are you people crazy???? I stopped that immediately. Problem now is, this ee has told other people and they are coming asking me why they cannot have the cash-I have explained that the policy changed since then and sorry, either take the benefits or not, there will be no monetary compensation. I received an e-mail today informing me that an ee at one of my centers contacted a lawyer and he said I cannot do that-Change policy...Anyone have any experience with this???? Of course I can change policy!!! I am HR, oops, got carried away-Any help would be appreciated!

ray a

Some companies in this area also give extra compensation to those who don't take the health insurance. My employer doesn't. I am asked that question occasionally by new hires, though. Never had anybody threaten to sue me.

Whirlwind

Your post reminds me of an old joke -- which I can't recall exactly, but it's something about God thinking he's a doctor. You've correctly surmised that these doctors made a big blunder in selectively enticing some new hires with the substitution of cash for benefits. I believe you can change the policy, and although I don't think the complaining ee has a winning legal case, whether he (or she) has a valid point about fairness arguably depends on when he was hired relative to those that got the cash option. If he was hired before or at the same time, he possibly has a valid claim of inequity. Given that possibility, it might have been a better strategy to make the policy change applicable to those hired after the change was made and let those hired previously take the cash.

To be honest, if I had another means of getting health care (say, through a spouse) and was given redundant coverage as a benefit instead of the extra pay that someone else was getting, and that person was hired at the same time or after me, I probably wouldn't be too thrilled.

Rockie

Hey Scorpio: I feel your pain. I, too, work for a physician practice,but I have 28 docs to deal with.

What I would do,and have done in the past concerning policies, is to grandfather those in that already have the "freebie" and those hired after a certain date do not get it.

As far as legally changing policies, this is a company's perogative as long as they don't break the law. Fairness (in the eyes of an employee) is another matter.

Crout

Sounds like "whisper down the alley" to me. I wouldn't put too much stock in second hand information. Yes, you can change your policy, but do it in as fair and reasonable a manner as possible, and make sure that you effectively communicate the changes.

dchr9203

Yes you can change your policy, but the catch is that you have to make sure you communicate it. Neither would I put alot of stock in an employee's statement that he/she was told by a lawyer that you could not do that. Policies can and do change and its funny to me that if a policy changes to give an employee a benefit a big whoorah goes up but if it changes with the perception you're taking something they "deserve" (yeah right), then they start whining and "how come he's got something I don't wah wah", then start calling lawyers.

DeidreFR5

Benefit packages, and hiring bonuses change depending upon employment needs; management can change package offerings as long as there is no discrimination involved (only Shakers get three weeks vacation). Also, management can negotiate benefits as part of a hiring package (what they did two years ago).

KathiHR

If you've only got one employee on it, & the policy has changed, never to be done again, why don't you just add that amount into this particular employee's salary? Tell the employee you don't do it anymore, & you've grandfathered the amount into her annual salary, & you're done with it forever. One might argue that that increases the base salary for future raises, but I'd imagine that salaries are rising much slower than insurance premiums. If she's getting the same amount as you pay on insurance, then she's probably getting about a 20% increase on that money every year (at least, that's the rate our insurance has been going up). Put it into her salary & you'll save money in the future.