Hi, Okay. I am currently working part time as an office manager. My boss has told me that come May they would like to make me full-time, the only problem is that they cannot afford to do this if I need/want the benefits. I was recently married and I am taking on my husbands benefits, so I am not in need of the company's that I work for. The higher up is saying that they have to offer me benefits.
Is there any way around this? What can I do or where can I research?

All "benefits" are not created equal. Certain benefits are covered by a federal law called ERISA. This includes employer provided medical coverage and retirement plans (including 401(k)). Employers are not required to offer such benefits (under federal law) but if they choose to do so, then the employer is required to have a formal published plan and fairly horrible things will happen to any employer who follows the exact wording of the their specific plan(s) to the letter. So if you are talking about ERISA level benefits, then you need to read your employers plans to find out exactly what the rules facing your employer are.

If instead you are talking about non-ERISA level benefits, then we have a very different legal situation. We at most have the company policy and state law. Most company policies do not rise to the level of a legally enforceable contract, but a few do. Meaning the only way to find out if your employer's specific company policies rise to the level of an enforceable contract is to have those policies reviewed by a local attorney.

Your employer may indeed have a real issue here.

This must be a duplicate post, or my response went poof. :(