Must separate policies be written for different benefit wait periods?
Stephanie
1 Post
We have one policy manual written for all offices currently. In that manual it describes company policy, Paid Time Off, benefits offered, etc.
We are bringing contractors on in different locations throughout the US. These particular employees will have different wait time for benefits, say 60 instead of the 30 we offer the rest of our employees and we are not offering PTO to these particular employees as well. Can we do this? Do I need to worry about discrimination?
My understanding is that we can as long as there is a separate policy written specific for this set of employees.
HELP??!!
We are bringing contractors on in different locations throughout the US. These particular employees will have different wait time for benefits, say 60 instead of the 30 we offer the rest of our employees and we are not offering PTO to these particular employees as well. Can we do this? Do I need to worry about discrimination?
My understanding is that we can as long as there is a separate policy written specific for this set of employees.
HELP??!!
Comments
When you say "contractors", are these independent contractors? If so, are you sure that your current health benefits plans will permit you to enroll people who are not employees?
If they are truly independenat contractors, you can negotiate any type of employment arrangement you like with them as long as you don't have a pattern of adversely effecting a protected class, such as the female contractors usually only wait 30 days for coverage while the male contractors usually have to wait 60 days. Whether they qualify for your 401k, pension plan, etc. will be determined by the plan documents and how each plan defines what an employee is.
If they are truely employees that are hired for a specific period of time, I think you should treat them like other employees so as not to run afoul of the federal laws regarding benefits (ERIESA)
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
I think that one policy for each area of concern would cover what you are asking. In each policy have the headings applicable for each type of employee i.e., full-time employee, part-time employee, contract employee - address specifically in each benefit policy (Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, PDO Accural, etc. Also make sure that you insert the waiting period for each classification.