Question 1: the company I work for in California has a young woman who left the company without notice and is now a drug addict. prior to her working for our company she had a kidney transplant, so her medical needs and demands will be constant forever. is the company I work for responsible to pay her medical insurance for 12 months. that's what my boss heard.


Question 2: the company I work for has an employee who is on disability for over 12 weeks, must we hold their job or offer them a job if they ever return.

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Your questions are answered below:

Question 1: the company I work for in California has a young woman who left the company without notice and is now a drug addict. prior to her working for our company she had a kidney transplant, so her medical needs and demands will be constant forever. is the company I work for responsible to pay her medical insurance for 12 months. that's what my boss heard.

Under COBRA, your employer may be required to permit her to continue her health insurance for a period of time, even after she leaves the company. However, that continuance requires that she pay 100% of the premium, plus a small amount for administrative costs. So, technically, unless your company is self-insured, the company will not experience a loss.

Question 2: the company I work for has an employee who is on disability for over 12 weeks, must we hold their job or offer them a job if they ever return.

[I] Answer: Federal law requires that employers who have at least 50 employees in a 75 mile radius offer up to 12 weeks of leave to employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours and one year with the company. This leave is called the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You can learn more about this at: http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/fmla/index.htm

Let me know if you have any other questions.

We have an employee who has been on disability for two months, we are not sure if she will ever come back. Do we have to offer her her old position or something comparable after 3 months? I think we have to wait three months to legally terminate her, is that correct? And how long are we responsible to pay for her health insurance? How do we legally terminate her if she does not give notice. :confused:

If she has been in your employ for only 3 months, she is not entitled to protection under disability laws, other than you must not treat her any different than you would others out for a similar amount of time. If you regularly terminate someone who is out of work for three months, then you can terminate her. To be safe, you probably wouldn't want to terminate her just yet. Instead, send her a letter, letting her know of your policy regarding termination after a certain period of time (regardless of the reason for the policy).

The same is true for the amount of time you maintain her health insurance. If you regularly pay for others, then you must pay for hers. If you let others maintain it but at their expense, then that is what you do with her, as well.

When you say that you must keep her on for three months, you might be thinking of federal and state protections for leave for persons with a serious illness. Thhe following website gives you information on both federal and state laws. http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/fmla/ca.htm

Let me know if you have any other questions.

We have an employee who has been on disability for two months, we are not sure if she will ever come back. Do we have to offer her her old position or something comparable after 3 months? I think we have to wait three months to legally terminate her, is that correct? And how long are we responsible to pay for her health insurance? How do we legally terminate her if she does not give notice. :confused:


Why would you want to do this? Was she a good employee? Hire a temp. Did she go out on leave with the ability to file workers comp and instead chose a state program that she paid into? If she was a good employee and put up with alot and you choose to fire her you will find that you are headed for trouble if others were treated differently. Are you a new HR person. I would take a seminar and really search your conscience. Does The "boss" lie, has she taken extreme irresponsible measures out of mania....only asking because this sounds like my own situation. Learn all you can about the law. Go to the law library. As an HR person it is your duty to ensure it is a safe, ethical enviornment. My HR lady was backing me 100% in my situation until my boss got to her and Im sure lied....her behavior was bizzare (to say the least) for an entire week she was lieing about everything even our clients commented about her behavior. Bottom line....if you are a witness to inappropriate behavior and do nothing you can be involved in what is called 3rd party harrassment. Make sure your motives are performance motivated and not out of spite. Or else you could have trouble...depends upon the circumstances when she went on leave. :p