Health Insurance Employee Contribution

jimbomt

I also posted this in the policy thread which appears to have no viewers, so I thought i would also start a thread here.

We currently charge employees a $125 pre tax contribution for their health insurance, deducted in two equal amounts from their checks. I could envision an employee having exhausted their sick and or vacation leave, getting sick, and not earning sufficient wages to pay their portion of the premium. I am considering having our Personnel Committee adopt a policy to address this issue. Either terminate the insurance (cobra type arrangement), or have the employee enter an agreement to repay us over a period of time at an agreed upon deduction/rate. We are not covered by FMLA nor do we have LTD. I am curious if anyone has a written policy addressing this issue? If so, I would certainly appreciate examining it.

Thank you

FunHRBanker

If it's a planned absence, I would draft the deduction agreement and have the employee sign it prior to the leave. If it is not planned, do the same as soon as you know that there will not be enough money to cover the deduction. We address this in our FMLA paperwork, but I use a separate document to authorize the new deductions.

jimbomt

thank you, food for thought

bethk

We now require employees to keep their insurance payments current if they are on leave, and this is stated in the FMLA paperwork that they sign. The powers that be changed this last year because we were getting bit too many times by paying for an employee's insurance, then they don't come back, or quit shortly after they come back.

Beth