Cobra Beneficiaries Entitled to Coverage under Employer's New Health Insurance Coverage

COBRA, can be complicated for employers, especially when switching health insurance companies, as a case from Georgia illustrates.  When the employee in that case was terminated near the end of the year, the employer provided the required COBRA election notice and the employee timely elected COBRA coverage for himself and his spouse, paying the first month's premium to the plan's insurer.  At the start of the next year, however, the insurer informed the employee that the employer had changed insurers and that the couple no longer had coverage with it, but rather with the employer's current provider.  When the employee contacted the employer, he was told to obtain COBRA coverage through the old insurer.  Sometime before the end of the 18-month COBRA period, the couple sued the employer for COBRA violations.  The employer did not respond to the lawsuit and the court entered an order of default.

Is The Employer Required To Maintain Dental Coverage During FMLA Leave?

The federal Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an opinion letter to a school district stating that the dental coverage it provides its employees must be maintained during FMLA leave, the same as group health coverage is.  The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its regulations require employers to maintain any “group health plan” coverage to an eligible employee on leave under the same conditions as coverage would have been provided if the employee had been continuously employed during the entire leave period.  For example, if the employer contributes 75% of the insurance premium while employed, it must pay that amount while the employee is on FMLA leave.

Applicant Strength Test was Gender Discrimination

An appeals court has upheld a $3.4 million verdict against an Iowa meat processing plant charged with discrimination against women because of a pre-employment strength test it required new job applicants to take.  The case was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of 52 women who were rejected for entry-level jobs at the Fort Madison Armour Star meat plant which is owned by Dial Corporation.

At issue in the case was a strength-testing requirement used in the plant to evaluate job applicants, which was implemented in reaction to a large number of workplace injuries.  At trial, the EEOC provided evidence that fewer women were hired after the testing was implemented and that it had a disparate impact on women because of the test's design.

Fewer Representation Votes Conducted In First Half of 2006 than In First Half of 2005

There were fewer representation elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board during the first half of 2006 than during the same period in 2005, according to NLRB data.  The union win rate also declined slightly from the previous year.  Unions won 485 of 802 elections (60.5%) held in the first half of 2006, compared with 715 of 1,161 elections (61.6%) in the same period of 2005.

Approaching Deadlines for Human Resource/Payroll Professionals

Latest Department of Labor Numbers