indefinite leave

System

We have an employee returning to his native country for an indefinite length of time, anywhere from one month to maybe six. Management told me to put him on a leave of absence. The usual practice, although not a written policy, is that we terminate at 30 days if we do not hear from the employee. It's been a month and I've heard nothing. Now management is saying we will give him indefinite unpaid leave and put him back to work when he returns. I was also told we could take him off our health insurance and put him back on when he returns. Can we do that, or must we continue benefits while he is gone, including vacation accrual, and participation in our other insurance plans that we provide? Help!

catlady

I would say a lot depends on the reason for the leave. Could it be considered FMLA? If so, then you need to give him 12 weeks and continue his health insurance, etc.

System

No, it is definitely not FML. He told his supervisor he had to take care of some things at home. I am most concerned about setting a bad precedent. I also want to be sure about our responsibility to continue health coverage (self insured, company pays premium), and the other forms of coverage we pay for (STD, LTD).

bsa

I always offer an ee on personal LOA COBRA and let that process run it's course. Your plan probably stipulates covered employees must be "actively" working. If/when he returns you are always free to rehire him and depending on your policies or practices, he may or may not have lost his seniority and he may or may not be eligible to re-enroll for insurance immediately. If you management is saying he is on indefinite unpaid leave, that tells me that they want him to keep his seniority.

System

Good advice. Problem is, the guy is already gone! I found out he'd left about a week after he'd left work and gone to Mexico.

bsa

Mail COBRA notification to his home address, certified, return receipt. A qualifying event has occurred, reduction in hours and/or termination.

Pearce

Simply putting someone on "leave of absence" does not guarantee that benefits are available. Yes as a self insured health plan you can pretty much do as you please but shouldn't you really be following the plan document regarding coverage during a leave? Read your plan documents and/or contracts. Read your SPD's. Health, dental, life, LTD, etc. Every coverage you have has written limitations on how long someone can be on a leave whether or not that leave is medical and/or necessary. In most cases you are doing no service to your company or that person by "carrying" them on your payroll in active status. Most life insurance has a provision that terminates the benefit if the person is on leave that is non-medical and more than 30 days long. Read and you will find answers that may provide you with a case for termination of this persons employment. Presumably you can always rehire when he is able to return.

Don D

I suggest you don't need to read all that stuff to 'find a case for termination'. You already have a case for termination. You stated it in your original question when you said the company's practice is to terminate after 30 days. Simply follow your company practice. Practice is equally as powerful as written policy.

HRGddss

If they promised him it would be OK to go on this little jaunt, I hardly think it is fair to fire him at 30 days.

Whatever

I gather nothing is in writing. Do you have any idea what was promised and/or agreed to by management. You are right to be concerned if management is setting a precedence.However,you state that it is the "usual practice" to terminate after 30 days..... Does this mean that there have been previous exceptions made to this unwritten policy? If so, what has the company done? Furthermore, all leave of absences should be approved in writing.

System

There's a management meeting this morning, and our HR director is bringing this up. This guy is very valuable, but the precedent we are setting is going to cause no end of trouble. I'll let you know what they come up with! Thanks, everyone, for your advice.
Linda