Employee fails to pay premium while on FMLA leave: When can you drop coverage?

Employees who are out on unpaid FMLA leave are still entitled to health insurance benefits if they were covered before going out on leave. However, if the employee was required to pay part of the premium before taking leave, that obligation continues.

But no pay means no insurance. If he skips any payments, the employer can terminate coverage without violating the FMLA.

Recent case: Shelby Lampley sued under the FMLA, saying his employer canceled his health insurance while he was out on FMLA leave.

But he had to admit under oath that he had not paid his part of the insurance premium. The em­ployer paid its share until Lampley stopped paying.

The court said the employer did nothing wrong. Employees on leave must continue paying their previous share of premiums to keep insurance in place. (Lampley v. IMS Management Services, No. 10-11543, 11th Cir., 2011)

Final note: Ordinarily, the em­­ployee’s premium is collected via pay­roll deduction. Be sure to discuss this practical matter with the employee before he goes out on FMLA leave. Many employees don’t realize they have to continue the premium payments.

Tweet

Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!

Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...

We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.

" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/14016/employee-fails-to-pay-premium-while-on-fmla-leave-when-can-you-drop-coverage "