Acquisition of another company
HRQ
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I posted this in Benefits but didn't get many hits, and no responses, so am trying my luck here!
Thanks for whatever help you can give.
We are evaluating another company for possible acquisition. If the acquisition happens, the acquired company will keep their name but otherwise essentially become one with our company - same tax ID #'s, etc.
Of course the other company's benefits plans are very different from ours and for the first year we'd like to leave their plans "as is" to avoid "change trauma" as much as possible. We want to continue to offer their employees the same benefits they currently get, and after a year, combine the best of their and our benefits plans so all employees of the bigger-and-better company are offered the same options.
So - my question is this: Under one company, can we offer part of the staff one benefit plan, and another part of the staff another benefit plan? The biggest components include insurance, vacation/sick pay, 401k, product discounts.
Thanks for whatever help you can give.
We are evaluating another company for possible acquisition. If the acquisition happens, the acquired company will keep their name but otherwise essentially become one with our company - same tax ID #'s, etc.
Of course the other company's benefits plans are very different from ours and for the first year we'd like to leave their plans "as is" to avoid "change trauma" as much as possible. We want to continue to offer their employees the same benefits they currently get, and after a year, combine the best of their and our benefits plans so all employees of the bigger-and-better company are offered the same options.
So - my question is this: Under one company, can we offer part of the staff one benefit plan, and another part of the staff another benefit plan? The biggest components include insurance, vacation/sick pay, 401k, product discounts.
Comments
As to the rest of it, assuming the are no CBA's to really make things sticky, I would think it possible to do what you are talking about. I view it as being similar to offering two tiered plans withing the same company - one for non-exempts and one for exempts.
Taking a year to evaluate the best features of the two benefit plans seems a bit much. Don't you think you could really do that in a couple of days at most? The logistics of combining two companies can be overwhelming and this is one of the big peices that adds a lot of complication, but it's part of the meal that is on the plate.
I think you should tackle it right away and eliminate that part of the uncertainty and confusion. Just my opinion.
As far as other benefits it is okay to offer different benefits to different depts or in this case companies as marc stated such as a tier plan.
Anyway, thanks for the quick reply, marc!
No CBA's. x:)
I am almost done comparing their plans to ours - and of course we could make changes NOW if we wanted to.
Our company has been through several changes in ownership in our 22 years, and the other company has never changed ownership in their 20 years. Many employees react to that kind of change with "what will happen to ME?" Only a few people at each of our companies know about the potential change so if/when it happens, it will be a surprise to most.
Because a change in ownership can cause uncertainty for staff, we wanted to advise them that their benefits plans will not change until year end (or whatever makes sense) except for closing out/rolling over 401k's. The idea is this will reassure the employees that while change is to be expected, they can at least feel comfortable knowing not EVERYTHING will change right away, especially the stuff that affects them and their families personally.
So again, my question is, can we offer two different sets of benefits plans to two different populations within one company? The populations would not be exempt vs. non. It would be those who work at one set of locations vs. those who work at the other set of locations, all in the same city, all for one employer.