401k & other benefit help

What is the name of your state? NJ. I recently found out that my boss (I no longer work for him-I resigned effective 4/30) has not made my 401k contributions since February 2004. I sent him a letter regarding this and he told me he would do it with the payroll the last week of May, however as of today he still has not made them. Additionally, I was notified today (6/14/04) that he cancelled my health insurance effective 4/14 which was the day I gave him notice of my resignation with 4/30 being my last actual day of work (as evidenced by my resignation letter and paystub) so now the insurer wants me to pay for the prescription amounts that exceeded my benefit. If that isn't bad enough he presents another potential problem with my new insurer and the possibilty of "pre-existing" issues because now he has created a break in my coverage period. He hasn't even sent me an option for continued coverage which I thought was the law and had to be done within 30 days of my separation. Please tell me what the laws are regarding these issues so I may present him with them intelligently. Thank you.

You may file a complaint with the Federal Department of Labor. I don't have the phone number but I think Beth3 (another regular poster) does. They are the regulatory agency for both issues.

With regards to the 401k issue, he is SERIOUSLY out of compliance with the law, and has been since about two weeks after the last payment was made to the funds. It has nothing to do with whether you are or are not employed by him currently - he MUST make the payments to the funds within (I think it's) two weeks after the deductions are made. If it's not two weeks it is something very close to that.

With regards to the health insurance, he is also out of compliance, but depending on several factors that we do not know, he either has been out of compliance for a month or he just went out of compliance today. You are incorrect about it being 30 days. He has either 14 or 44 days from the last day of coverage (which is not necessarily the last day of employment) to give you the information about continuing the insurance. Whether it is 14 or 44 days depends on who administers the insurance continuation (known as COBRA - he or a third party). We don't know which date (the 14th or the 30th) will ultimately stand as your last day of coverage (that will depend on what your policy says) and we don't know if it's 14 or 44 days that he is given under the law. But either way he's exceeded it - it's only that we don't know whether he's JUST exceeded it or exceeded it weeks ago.

The company is not under the typical Cobra (18 months) but is covered rather by NJ continuation coverage (12 months-because of the size of the company-under 20 employees).

1. If he has failed to forward your 401(k) contributions to the plan trustee, call the federal DOL immediately: 202-693-4650.

2. If you paid for group health coverage through 4/30 and he cancelled you sooner, report that to the DOL.

3. You don't have a pre-existing condition exclusion problem as under HIPAA, a "break in coverage" only applies if there has been a lapse in coverage for 63 continuous days, NOT including any waiting period your future employer imposes before you are eligible to join their plan. However a Certificate of Coveage must be automatically provided to each employee and dependent who terminates coverage. Failure to comply can result in a penalty of $100/day to the employer. You should report this to the DOL as well.