Unpaid Healthcare & Benefits Package

[ekonarske]

I accepted a job in July of 2003 in the state of Michigan. In the offer/acceptance letter presented to me by my empoyer, it is clearly stated that after 90 days I would be entitled to medical, dental, and a retirement package.

90 days came and went, but no benefits. Now, just about a year later after many discussions with the company owner about this matter... still no benefits.

Recently I quit the job for this and many other reasons, and I'm curious about legal options for getting my back benefits paid.

I guess my question is, is the job offer letter, signed by the company ower, a legally binding agreement, and is it worth getting a lawyer to help resolve the issue?

Thanks very much,
Eric

 

[Beth3]

I guess my question is, is the job offer letter, signed by the company ower, a legally binding agreement, and is it worth getting a lawyer to help resolve the issue? It depends entirely on how the letter is worded. You will need to show the letter to a local attorney to get an expert opinion.

Before you do that though, what are your damages for your employer's failure to provide the promised health insurance benefits? Are you just ticked that they didn't provide what they offered or do you have substantial medical bills from that period of time for which you had no insurance coverage?

 

[ekonarske]

Before you do that though, what are your damages for your employer's failure to provide the promised health insurance benefits? Are you just ticked that they didn't provide what they offered or do you have substantial medical bills from that period of time for which you had no insurance coverage?

Mostly just ticked... however I paid my for my own insurance (a very watered-down version) during this time that I would certainly like reimbursed. And honestly, I would like the full amount of the value of the benefits that I didn't recieve--they were promised to me (in writing) and I fought the owner on many occasions to get them to me.

When I accepted the job, the pay wasn't the best, but I accepted the job after calculating how much the value of the benefits was to me.

I do have a copy of the official job offer letter explicitly spelling out the benefits package.

Also, the insurance that I did have was for emergencies only. I had a few occasions over the past few months where I should have seen a doctor, but couldn't because of the lack of insurance.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Beth3]

As I said above, you're going to have to show the offer letter to a local employment law attorney to find out if the letter provides a basis to pursue legal action. The reason I asked about any possible damages is to see if this is going to be worthwhile though. If you had thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills, it would be. Since you don't, the question becomes whether the cost of taking legal action exceeds the value of what you are "out." An attorney can advise you more specifically however.

I can offer you a free option though - contact the federal Department of Labor and file a complaint. If, according to the employer's group health Plan Document, you were in an "eligible class" of employees and should have been offered coverage and weren't, the employer is in violation of federal ERISA regulations. I can't say that filing a complaint with the DOL will necessarily result in your receiving any compensation but it will turn up the heat on the employer and may result in a fine to them. Messing around with ERISA reg's and the federal DOL is NOT a good idea. You may also contact your State's Insurance Commission and State Department of Labor and do the same.

The phone number of the federal DOL is 202-693-4650 www.dol.gov