Employer not paying ins. through my sick time

Sisters,

I was hit with a shocker one week before my surgery. My boss came to me to advise that while I am recuperating using the sick leave time that I have accumulated, I won't be acruing any hours towards "qualifying" for my employee benefits. We have to work at least 32 hours a week to get our insurance premiums covered and since I won't be at work for the 32 hours each week that I am gone, I will have to pay my insurance premiums myself! I was floored! Has anyone ever heard of this idiocy? It's not legal, is it (WA state)? It *might* make sense if you were on unpaid leave, but not while using the sick time benefit that I have already earned... Can anyone point me towards some legal statutes about this???

Any info is appreciated!

I don't have any info, but I understand how you feel!!!

My surgery was scheduled July 19 and reschedule to July 26
(if nothing else happens). I work at school and have been trying before the summer to get this taken care of. Now I am almost at the end of it!! I only have 10 days sick leave, that I will be paid for. I will not be paid for any more than that. And I will also have to for pay my insurance.

It's very frustrating!!!!

Its aweful, ...I'am in a bad situation too 14 years with the same company...we get NO sick leave, I can use 2 weeks of my vacation but after that I pay my insurance premiuim and receive NO PAY....and my deductible is $1500.00!

Sister,

According to the Federal Family Leave Act, not only are you entitled to up to 12 weeks leave (unpaid if you haven't aquired the sick leave), reinstatement into the same or equilivant position upon your return, but also continued medical coverage through your employer.

Here's a link:
http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/a...75C218906A2E06

and here's the quote:

"If your employer provides a group health plan, you are entitled to continued insurance coverage while you are on leave. However, if you decide not to return to work when your leave ends, your employer can require you to reimburse it for the premiums it paid during your leave."

Additionally,

"Although FMLA leave is unpaid, you are entitled to use your accrued paid leave as FMLA leave in certain circumstances. You can always use accrued paid leave that is characterized as vacation or personal leave. And, in certain circumstances, you may substitute accrued sick or family leave for FMLA leave. You can use this type of accrued leave only if the reasons for the leave are covered by your employer's leave policy. For example, you cannot use paid sick leave during FMLA leave to care for an ill family member unless your employer's policy allows employees to take sick leave to care for others who are ill."

Make sure you check out the link since there are some other requirements like notice and such.

DO NOT let this man do this to you. The law does not allow this sort of treatment, and you have enough stress right now.

PM me if you need more info. It only takes me a minute to look these things up as I use these resources regularly.

I'm in ny, so maybe it;s different here.
Check the employee manual. The rules should be in there (so they can't be changed willy nilly.)
You are entitled to disability ins. I think it's effective after 7 days out of work. My employees having babies use it. They take money out of your check for it (by law). It might be a fraction of what your used to. You get the form from your employer, take it to the dr, fill it out, bring it back and they submit the request to the ins. Our experience is the check takes weeks to come.
You can also apply for Cobra coverage. Again this should be in your handbook. You pay the premium to keep your ins active. The law requires them to only charge what they pay and a small %.
In my co, we give you so many mos off and we pay the health ins, then after a certain amt of time we ask for payment. I've had people look like they were never coming back and were enjoying me paying their health ins so we had to create rules.
hope this helps

Please check out the links given by dtraceyz she right on target...FMLA is a federal law if I'm not mistaken...I have to keep there policy's posted in the breakroom of my company for all employees to see...It really shouldn't vary that much from state to state..So please check it out we should not be punished for a needed medical procedure.......I hope it helps..

shannon

Wow! Thank you for all the great information. Regarding FMLA, unfortunately my office has only 32 employees. FMLA is only applicable for companies with 50 or more employees.
One cool thing in all of this is that 2 other employees donated their remaining vacation hours to me, and my employer allowed that. (surprise!) So, if I am out for 6 weeks, that leaves only about a week or 2 unpaid. I have no disability insurance. I think we can squeak by financially without any major catastrophies.
I sure appreciate the support of my sisters here!

Great feel blessed to have such good co workers....Blessings come in all different ways....What a wonderful durprise that must have been.......

In NYS everyone gets disability ins. It's the law. I'm an owner so i don't qualify even though i have to contribute. I have less than 30 people so the federal rules are different.

From what I gather reading the FMLA info posted above (even though I know Seychelle says she doesn't qualify for FMLA due to the number of employees in her company,) your employer must continue your medical benefits, but it doesn't say they have to pay the premium. I still think Sey should fight this, call a local attorney and ask their opinion, or even call the local government office who deals with employee rights. It stinks that in our time of need an employer could add on more stress. I was lucky, I was out of work for almost 6 months, and I was on full pay the entire time, and didn't pay for my medical benefits. It's the only real thing keeping me at that job.

Good luck getting this figured out, Sey! Let us know what you find out.

Mary Ellen