picking and choosing who you offer health care to

[Eekamouse]

What is the name of your state? California

Is it legal to offer health insurance to only some of your regular full-time employees but not to all of your full time employees? For instance, you own a construction company and you only offer a health plan to the people who work in the office such as the accounting department and the project manager but deny you offer health plans to the superintendants who spend most of their time out on the job sites?

[Betty]

I'm about 99.9% positive you can because they are in different "classes" but hold for a HR person to come along then we will both know for sure. Betty

[cbg]

An employer may legally establish different classes of employee and offer health insurance to only some of them. It is legal to offer insurance only to office workers and not to field workers.

But, having established that class, all office workers must be offered insurance. He can't pick and choose among those in an eligible class.

[Betty]

Thanks, HR person.

[Eekamouse]

Yes, thank you, cbg. I have an additional question. If there is a superintedent that's been with the company for 9 years and he gets insurance coverage through the company, does that change anything for the other supers who are not offered insurance?

[cbg]

Not necessarily. Sometimes an employer will essentially say, "Okay, we can't afford insurance any more. Effective such and such a date, new employees are not eligible. Only employees who are already covered are eligible". Essentially they have created an eligible "class" of employees who were hired before such and such a date. Sooner or later, that "class" is going to dwindle down to only one as people leave the employer.

This is legal.

[Eekamouse]

Okey dokey. Thanks a bunch.