FMLA/COBRA Interaction

Rockie

If you have an employee who has exhausted all their FMLA leave, but need maybe two more weeks in order to be able to return, do you put them on a leave of absence, cancel their insurance, offer them COBRA and when they come back, put them back on the insurance plan?

Do you have to start them over as a rehire?

This has got to be one of the most complicated issues!

NaeNae55

What do your policies say? Do you have one for people who do not qualify for fmla? I would follow it.

We have a leave of absence policy here from prior to fmla (allows up to 6 months). We would expect the employee to pay for their insurance for a long term absence, but probably not if it was only for 2 weeks. We have not actually had this situation occur so I cannot say for sure, but we would probably continue as if fmla if it is only 2 weeks just for good employee relations. If it was an employee we would like to get rid of, we might have to think about it.

Good luck!

Nae

NeedCoffee

In this case, we have granted the employee the extra leave as "approved medical leave" and just like FMLA, require them to pay back their portions of insurance premiums that the company paid in their absence. I think terminating them and going through the while COBRA route is a bit extreme.

Remember, nothing prohibits you from giving the EE more than 12 weeks - 12 is just the minimum you must grant. You could add a codicil to your policies stating that after all FMLA is exhausted, extensions of leave will be considered on a case by case basis, and must continue to be certified in the same manner as FMLA.

Good luck!

joannie

We put them on a leave of absence, offer them COBRA if they do not meet criteria to continue insurance, cancel insurance if they do not elect COBRA, and when they come back, put them back on the insurance plan with no waiting period. We do not start over as a re-hire.

EE's not eligible for FMLA are handled differently. According to our policy, if they are in their 90 day intro period, we terminate, then when doctor releases, they are eligible for re-hire. If after 90 days but prior to FMLA eligibility, we handle as above.

njjel

Need Coffee is correct - nothing stops you from giving them MORE than 12 weeks just so long as you do that for everyone. Here, we would more than likey grant the two week's extra and just have them catch up on their insurance when they return as we are on a 30 day cycle with insurance billing.

stilldazed

Another consideration is to look at the timing of payroll deductions vs. insurance invoicing/payment. In our situation, payroll deductions are collected the month prior to the month of coverage because payment of invoices on most of our insurance products is required by the insurance companies at the start of the month of coverage. When it comes to leaves of absence that are not FMLA protected, that gives us the added extra of knowing whether or not the employee has paid his/her portion. If the payment has been made and returning to work within the month appears inevitable, we extend the approved leave of absence beyond the FMLA baseline and allow the coverage to continue. If the payment has not been made, returning to work does not appear to be inevitable within the month, or we cannot get a signed commitment from the employee to honor a payback schedule, we cancel and Cobra. If the employee returns to work during the Cobra period, we cancel the Cobra and return him/her as an active participant without a new waiting period.

A lot of what you do will depend on how your SPD and/or policies are written. Also, FMLA is the baseline and is intended to encourage employers to go beyond the minimum requirement if possible.

best wishes,

CCH1400

This has come up several times since I have been here. An employee uses all of their FMLA leave and still needs 2 weeks or maybe a month more. We continue to pay for their insurance knowing that they will return on a specific date. We send them a letter indicating that based on the paperwork from the doctor they will be returning on such and such a date and if they do not return to work we will terminate their employment. A couple of employees were unable to return to work. We terminated them and told them they were free to reapply for a position once they had been cleared. With two others they returned on the date the doctor specified and they are still employed here.