OOPS

The Clerk

If a spouse of a deceased employee has been informed verbally that the company will pay two years worth of medical insurance/the medical insurance provider has changed, the two years coverage has not been rolled into the new program, is the company in trouble if they don't give the coverage after the verbal was given?

How do you rectify this problem, does anyone have any idea?

Help

Cheryl S SPHR

As in most cases, the answer is "it depends." I think it is possible this could be construed as a verbal contract. Even if you are not legally bound to provide it, you may want to as a good-will gesture. You could consider purchasing private insurance to meet the two years that was promised. Also, what about COBRA -- does it apply to the termination of coverage here and could you pay the premium? Another possibility would be to reach an agreement with the spouse to pay a lump-sum in lieu of providing the coverage and let the spouse go find their own coverage and then you can be done with it.

ritaanz

Look very closely at COBRA. Verbal agreement or not, you may have responsibility to offer the medical coverage. The premiums could be paid by the company or whatever arrangement you made with the spouse.

Don D

On the other hand, the best outcome for a mistake is to correct it. I don't think that every statement we make in HR becomes a verbal contract. Surely we are not to have our heads lopped off if we make a mistake about a policy or procedure. Now, if a written job offer results in an acceptance and the process has moved along fairly far, we should expect to hold to our commitments in the offer. However, if we mistate something like your post indicates, I think we have the right to correct it. Expecting the company to honor something like that when the description of the policy was mispoken is a bit of a stretch.

Try this, "Dear Janet: The other day when we discussed the insurance continuation, I gave you incorrect information. The policy will actually cover you for one year, not two. My apologies for that mistake. Please contact me to discuss your decision."