Cobra etc, Employee in Jail

cindyasj

We were just notified by a family member that an employee is back in jail (apparently a parole violation) and will be eligible for work release in two weeks. We do not believe we have work that will qualify for the work release (hours and locations are the problems). The employee has health insurance that covers two children, that do not live with him, for whom we withhold child support. I know we need to send a COBRA letter to the employee (at his last address), and I believe we need to send a COBRA letter to the children. My questions are:
1) Are there any requirements about making a job for this employee under work release?
2) Is there any other COBRA notification I need to do, e.g. the two states to whom we remitt child support? We will be notifying them that he is no longer working, but do they have the right to continue the health insurnace coverage for the children via COBRA?

HRAMERICA

I. Unless you have a Collective Bargaining Agreement or other employment document that states otherwise, you do not have to provide a job for this employee. In fact, you may have an A&T Policy or other work rule/regulation that calls for the employee's termination of employment as a result of this employee's continued absence from scheduled work.

II. COBRA requires notification to the employee and his children only. However, you should check for the "COBRA" requirements for the states in which the children are domiciled.

cindyasj

A little additional info:
We're a NH company. One of the children is in NH, the other is in Maine.

Carol CA

The children have a right to continue the insurance through COBRA - who pays for it is another matter. If the soon-to-be-ex-employee cannot afford the COBRA payments without his job, and the mother cannot afford the COBRA, their coverage would cease. Certainly the state is not going to pay for it and they cannot ask your company to continue the coverage out of your pocket.