EE Term'd in 2wks. COBRA Eligible?

Aurora IL

This employee was hired on 5/21 and subsequently fired on 6/4. He was fired because he left his shift early, came in late, called in twice and took a 3 ½ hour lunch all within his first two weeks of employment. I felt the termination was justified and gave the manager the go-ahead.

Our health plan says full-time employees are eligible to enroll on the 1st of the month following the date of hire. This employee was hired for a full-time position and was scheduled to work enough hours to qualify him for full-time status.

He elected to participate in the health plan as of 6/1/08. Is he eligible for COBRA?

lnelson

If he was ENROLLED in the plan at termination then yes he would qualify. The items you describe are not considered gross misconduct. So send him the COBRA forms.

ritaanz

I love it! In a total of 10 days, this guy managed to leave early, come in late, be absent for 2 days and tops it off with a 3 1/2 lunch. Now that's bravado.

By all means, give him the paperwork. Oh, and smile as you hand it to him. Consider yourself lucky to be rid of him.

Aurora IL

Thanks! I figured that’s what I had to do since he did technically qualify for benefits and he was quick to fill out the enrollment forms.

I was just hoping there was a way to avoid all the extra paperwork for an employee that clearly wasn’t worth it.

FunHRBanker

I agree with lnelson: if he was enrolled, then he is eligible. If he was not, there is no COBRA.

If he'd filled out the paperwork, you'd sent it in, and he was just waiting for the cards, yes, send the paperwork.