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I have a small construction company ( 6 employes) in Wisconsin and have started offering group health insurance as a benifit.
The company pays 100% of employee cost & then they have the option to put their family on it with that share of the cost coming out of their paycheck.
One of my questions is if in a lay-off period such as time off in early spring while waiting for road bans & frost to come out of the ground or if there is small amounts of time off during the year due to scheduling problems, does the company continue to pick up their full premium or should it be pro rated for the amount off.
We offer paid holidays & a very flexible work schedule, along with profit sharing on each job. Ant other type of benifits or ideas on this subject would great.
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Be careful here Dave. Employee benefits are covered by federal ERISA law. There are all sorts of rules about terminating coverage. Problems could come up if employees did not pay their premiums during the off periods. Don't try self-help boards for this one. You can pay a lawyer a little now or a lot later on.
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I must second this. Family Leave Act, etc. can influence this. Talk with an attorney or your Department of Labor.
*Yes, buy time with an attorney. No, do not go to a govt. entity for advice. Trust me, I know. Ever wonder where that quaint saying, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" came from? It's a derogatory euphemism that overly trusting small business owners, like me, have for the high degree of hassle they received from "dem gummint folks".Go to the Dept. of ... and you will be jumping through so many #@*% hoops that you'll wish you just stayed in bed. And, of course, if you fail to respond to their little demands, it'll be like a red flag on you.Oh, never mind me, just do whatever you think...don't say I didn't warn you.
*Okay, I'm no employment lawyer, but the guy in the next office is. I'm a commercial trial lawyer and a do it yourself type home repair guy that checks out this site for tips. Generally, if you intend to stop paying for a person's benifits, that person has COBRA rights, which means that a bunch of paper work needs to be filed and that person needs to have the right to maintain their benifits during the time you will not be paying. But, my understanding (and I had a case like this recently) is that if you have less than 10 employees on average than ERISA does not apply. In Georgia, state laws takeover where ERISA doesn't apply and imposes similiar requirments. In short, get yourself an employment lawyer in your home state. DO NOT rely on the advice of any governmnet agency. They are not always correct, and that you relied on their advice is not a defense to a lawsuit. A good employment lawyer can answer your questions and draft an employee manual (aka -cover your ass document) for 500-1000). Should you be sued however the cost willbe much more. I had a two day trial last year that cost 14,000 just for the trial -not including the year of discovery and motions. Good luck
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I guess you guys need to come to Montana where everyone is normal and the government helps you! Those Chedder heads got nice laws, too, I hear!
*Dave: I am a benefits/ home remodeling expert. You face several issues when interrupting your offering of health coverage to employees.1. The insurer likely asked you how much you as employer would pay when you took out the coverage. Not abiding by this for an "active" employee for any length of time not allowed in the policy could cause problems if a large claim occurred.2. Your state has laws that require allowing an employee no longer active, who loses coverage (because they do not work 30 hours per week for example and are no longer eligible) to continue coverage. They must pay the premium but you can supplement it. It may be for 90 days or more.3. COBRA does not apply to groups of less than 20 employees.4. A place to start is your insurance broker. The broker works for you. Be careful, however, if you have an "agent" for the insurer you use. The agent represents the insurance company. Most of either (if they want to keep your business) will guide you about using the policy to your benefit. In any event get answers in writing.I am not an attorney and do not offer this as legal advice. I hope this helps you get started.
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I have a small construction company ( 6 employes) in Wisconsin and have started offering group health insurance as a benifit.
The company pays 100% of employee cost & then they have the option to put their family on it with that share of the cost coming out of their paycheck.
One of my questions is if in a lay-off period such as time off in early spring while waiting for road bans & frost to come out of the ground or if there is small amounts of time off during the year due to scheduling problems, does the company continue to pick up their full premium or should it be pro rated for the amount off.
We offer paid holidays & a very flexible work schedule, along with profit sharing on each job. Ant other type of benifits or ideas on this subject would great.