This may be a different perspective than most posts on this board, but I am the HR person in a small business in California and we have an employee who has not reported for work in two weeks, with no explanation. We have heard through another employee that he has taken a trip out of state and is unreachable. We have not decided if we wish to terminate him or not, but we cannot afford to keep paying for his medical insurance while he is not working. He also has a dependent, a baby boy, for whom we provide medical insurance while deducting the premium from the employee's weekly paychecks. My question is: guilt feelings aside about his baby boy :( , can we suspend his medical coverage and the coverage for his dependent at the end of this month if he still has not reported in, and if so, can we reinstate it immediately if he comes back and we wish to keep him on staff? If we suspend or cancel his medical insurance, what kind of notice are we required to give him? Is he eligible for CalCobra coverage at that point?

Thank you.

These posts are for employers, as well as employees, so feel free to post questions anytime.

Now, in reference to your question...When I've had no shows, I send them a letter, via certified mail, letting them know that it is assumed that they have abandoned their job and you are terminating their employment, compensation and benefits. If you wish, you can add a statement that they may contact you as soon as possible to discuss possible reinstatement. It's important that you are consistent in sending these letters out...make sure that the same letter goes to everyone who is in a similar situation, such as 3 days absence. (2 weeks is longer than any other employer that I know of. Most employers will only permit 0, 1, 2, or 3 no show days.)

It is understood that the employee may or may not be available to sign for the letter. Keep the returned mail, to prove that you tried.

While you may feel concerned about the loss of coverage for his dependents, he caused this problem himself. You can't be responsible for all of the unfortunate self-destructive actions of employees.

As far as letting him back on the plan without a waiting period, it is dependent upon the contract with your insurance company. If the medical insurer won't let a rehired employee back into the plan immediately AND you want the employee to have the coverage immediately upon his return, you can modify the letter mentioned earlier so that it says that you will suspend him for a specified period of time (whatever you determine is reasonable), and then you will terminate. Again, you must be consistent, regardless of the employee.

One other piece of advice, from an HR professional to an HR professional, it is important to consider the line manager's opinion as to what is a reasonable amount of time that someone can be AWOL. Most managers I know would like to terminate the employee after the first day of being AWOL. However, as an HR person, you may want to ensure that there aren't any extraordinary circumstances that would prevent an employee from calling in, such as a serious car accident, personal crises, etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck.

Update on the AWOL employee in California: he has now resigned by telling one of our other employees that he decided to quit. He has not communicated with his supervisor, the company owner, or anyone in the office (we are a construction company and his buddy is another worker on the last job site he was working). He just told his buddy, who told his supervisor. His supervisor is now on his way over to "AWOL's" house to retrieve any tools and equipment that are company property.

My question is this: can we accept this 3rd party verbal notice as a resignation? Because from what I understand, if he resigns, he is not entitled to an unemployment insurance claim. If we send him some kind of termination letter, then he will officially be terminated and will be eligible for unemployment. What should I do to document that he has resigned of his own accord, and we did not terminate him?

Thank you again!

I would send a certified letter to him, saying that you have been told that he has resigned. Let him know that if he disagrees and that he has not resigned, he must contact you by a certain date (usually a couple of days hence). Otherwise, your records will indicate that he has resigned.

Then, if he applies for unemployment, you can show that you sent the letter and he received it. He will have to show that he did notify you that he didn't resign. Chances are that he won't be able to. He won't get unemployment.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I have a simple question in regard to your situation. When you hired the man for the position that he went AWOL on did you say to him, "Your Hired?" If you did, why wouldn't you tell him, "Your Fired" when it is time for him to leave? At this point, he can do one of two things 1) file for unemployemnt or 2) not file for unemployment. In the former case, if you told him he was "Fired" you would have your story straight when EDD contacts you about his temination, otherwise your left with the problem of clariflying the situation later. To the best of my knowledge, you must offer Cobra a terminated employee. He can either accept the 30 day Cobra extention or not. Surely, your office must have policies and procedure manuel that you can refer to. Be firm and clear. Good Luck.

Saying, "you're fired" is impossible if the person just stops showing up. That is what is to be accomplished in the form of the certified letter.

As far as COBRA is concerned, you are absolutely correct. COBRA can extend medical coverage for a minimum of 18 months. However, small employers of less than 20 employees are not required to offer COBRA.

Let us know if you have any other questions.