If an employee is on a leave of absence (LOA) must the employer continue health insurance or is this a COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget & Reconciliation Act of 1985) event?
It depends. If the employee is on FMLA and CFRA leave simultaneously, the employer must continue health coverage under the same conditions (permitting the employee to pay the same dollar amount or the same percentage of the premium) as though the employee were still actively working, for up to a maximum of 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of leave, if the employee does not return to work, then the employee and dependents (qualified beneficiaries) are entitled to 18 months of COBRA plus an additional 18 months of Cal-COBRA (for plans written, delivered and filed in California).. In cases where CFRA follows FMLA (as in pregnancy disability followed by baby bonding), then COBRA (followed by Cal-COBRA) may begin at the end of FMLA and continue through any existing pregnancy disability leave and any subsequent CFRA leave. Military Leave: If the service is for 30 or fewer days, the employee cannot be required to pay more than the normal employee share of any premium. When the leave is longer the
Related Questions
- If an employee is on a leave of absence (LOA) must the employer continue health insurance or is this a COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget & Reconciliation Act of 1985) event?
- If an employee goes on workmen’s compensation, what does the employer do with the health insurance if the employee cannot continue to provide health insurance?
- How does an employer know if an employee will continue on the health insurance plan?