Shop Steward problems
Whatever
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As per our union contract, the company picks up a the majority of the cost of dependent coverage. There is also a clause in the contract about the ee being responsible for advising HR when they get divorced or legally separated. The company rules include a rule about theft. Found out today that the shop steward has been divorced for 17 months. He told his supervisor he didn't know about the clause in the contract. (aside -- sarcastic "right"). He is, also, on the board of the union. If it was any other ee, he would be terminated. I'm inclined to do that, but I'm nervous. I need suggestions on what to do.
Comments
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
As far as terminating, if this is the only offense I would not do it.
I agree with the earlier post that said let the insurance company handle it. They will do their thing and you won't have a real role in it. I also agree that it is not theft. These sorts of things are way more common than some realize, with kids on the policy who should have rolled off, with kids on the policy who really do not meet the definitions of dependent and with spouses who no longer hold that status. I once discovered an employee who still showed her spouse on our coverage and he had been dead for seven years. I was pleased that he had filed no claims.
Pick your battles wisely. Avoid this one with the union. It's not one you'll enjoy.
LFernandes
Or, more to the point, do we rule her eligible at some point in the past and require the payment of back-cobra-premiums. I suspect the latter.
"When the Plan Administrator is notified that one of these events has happened [Qualifying Event], the Plan Administrator will, in turn, notify you that you have the right to continuation coverage. Under the law, you have at least 60 days from the date you would lose coverage because of one of the events described above, or the date of notice of your election notice is sent to you, whichever is later, for you to inform the Plan Administrator that you want continuation coverage. If you do not chose continuation coverage, your group health insurance coverage will end."
I would send out the COBRA notice, certified return receipt and let her decide if she want to continue her coverage. She would have to back pay all the past due premiums. But I would definately talk to your healthcare Account Manager first to see how they handle something like this. I know that my healthcare provider only allows me to term coverage 60 days back.
Good luck.
LFernandes
The point I would be trying to make to the union that it is not acceptable for union officials to violate the contract.
The NLRB could be a concern, but only if you have to disciplined other employees for this type of offense. If you have not, then there is a concern, but being an union official does not insulate an employee from legitimate discipline. However, I would not overtly state to the union that you are making an example out of the steward. I would tell them that the conduct is unacceptable and because he is a steward and a member of the union's board, it is unbelievable that he did not know what the contract requires.
Vance Miller
Editor, Missouri Employment Law Letter
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
(314) 621-5070
[email]vmiller@armstrongteasdale.com[/email]
>The NLRB could be a concern, but only if you have to disciplined other
>employees for this type of offense. If you have not, then there is a
>concern, but being an union official does not insulate an employee
>from legitimate discipline. However, I would not overtly state to the
>union that you are making an example out of the steward. I would tell
>them that the conduct is unacceptable and because he is a steward and
>a member of the union's board, it is unbelievable that he did not know
>what the contract requires.
Based on personal experience, I disagree with several points made in your last paragraph, which I have inserted above. First, in real-world application, it is not true that 'being a union official does not insulate an employee from legitimate discipline'. I suffered through nine 10 hour days of NLRB trial in 2002, and lost. We had terminated a steward for leaving the job as well as leaving the production plant entirely. Our evidence revealed that we had consistently done that over time for 17 years. The opinion stated that the steward was due special consideration from the rules in that she conveniently claimed that she had walked off the job and out of the plant to represent somebody. (wonder where she got that notion. I'll tell you where...from the NLRB agent/attorney). Secondly, I'm not saying he did not cheat, lie and steal; but, a company's insurance policy and COBRA regulations are not among the body of intimate knowledge that a shop steward would typically have. Often they know little more than where the grievance forms are kept. Third, I have never seen a contract that even mentions COBRA beyond perhaps inclusion by parenthetical reference among the policy jargon. Fourth, I can tell you that being elected or appointed to a steward's position requires absolutely nothing beyond a casual ability to take random breaths of air to sustain life. They have no expectation to operate within any particular framework of knowledge and certainly not common sense. Last, how would one pretend to not be making a special circumstance out of this with the steward and not treating the steward as an example yet at the same time reduce this to writing in a special written appeal to the union?
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman