vested retirement benefits, medical with termination?

[janessa]

What is the name of your state? New York

I am a female, 55+, and have worked over 25 years for the same company. I am concerned that I may be terminated for cause this coming week. I am vested in my retirement benefits. I understand that this means that my retirement monies cannot be taken away, but, what about medical, dental and other peripheral benefits that come with the standard company retirement benefits package?

Please respond asap, I need to know this information as it will determine how I will approach this situation at work. My thinking is: proactively retire before I am (possibly) terminated (and I do wish to stay employed); or just wait it out and see what happens.

The issue at hand is a minor one; however, the company is very regimented in it's approach towards employment. I suppose that is irrelevant to this query, however.

Please respond, and let me know your capacity relative to your knowledge of this important issue. I need to act upon reliable input. Many thanks and blessings!

 

[cbg]

It's not clear whether you are asking if you will be able to retain these benefits at all, or whether you will be able to retain them at the company's expense and not your own.

Unless you are fired for gross misconduct, you are eligible for COBRA with regards to your medical and dental benefits. No law requires that disability benefits or life insurance benefits be continued after termination, although some states require that you be given the opportunity to retain at least the life insurance benefit to an individual policy at your own expense. I'm not aware of any state that requires such a requirement for a disability benefit, although there may be one. In any case, in your state there is a state benefit. A 401k plan is subject to the terms of the plan document.

If there are any other specific benefits you want to know about, you'll have to be specific.

Unless the retirement package is written in such a way as to guarantee these benefits indefinitely, and/or at the company's expense, you will only be entitled to the limits of the appropriate statutes; i.e. 18 months of COBRA at cost to you of 102% the cost to the employer; the vesting schedule of the 401k, etc.

 

[janessa]

retirement benefits upon termination for cause

Thank you for your response. Firstly, I'm not sure what would fall under "gross misconduct". I violated the code of conduct over the past several months where I took credit / attempted to take credit for nominal sales credits in order to meet minimum requirements for a sales performance / incentive plan. The equivalent dollars that would mean to me was under $1000, but quite a bit less was paid as a result of this. Without minimizing what I did do, the scenario is minor in local managements eyes, however, it is a violation of the code of ethics as set forth by the company.

My question is most specific to medical and dental benefits. I believe (?) that they cannot take away my company retirement balance. Under retirement vesting, I'm able to carry medical benefits equal to "current" employee benefits - meaning that the company pays a certain portion towards the benefit (versus Cobra, where I can carry it at 102%, as you referenced.) In other words, the benefit could change, yet remain equivalent to (future)current employees.

The answer to this question will determine whether I attempt to step forward to voluntarily retire, before they (may) choose to terminate me.

I truly appreciate your response.

 

[BRN2005]

retirement benefits

Janessa, do you not have a copy of your retirement benefits package? If you do not have an individual copy, there should be a Master copy available. I believe it is importatnt that you read this in detail. I believe what your rights are will be outlined in that document. Having years of experience in the insurance business, I do know that most of your insurance/benefits packages are all spelled out with the insurance company who handles your benefits package (health insurance/life insurance/retirement benefits). Usually these documents a quite extensive and quite lengthy. As such, each employee is not given a private copy, but a Master copy should be available for you to reference. That might be kept by human resources, etc. (depending on the size and make up of your company). If you cannot access a copy through you company, the insurance company will have a copy. If you have troulble accessing it, your attorney might be the one to request a copy.