December 15, 2004

10:35 PM

Lies and the lying employers who tell them. Many workers at my small company were given written assurance at the time of our last pay review that we would be enrolled in a health insurance plan on a stated date. Six months later, the promised benefits have not materialized. Do we have any legal recourse?
posted by 12XU to (6 comments total)

More supporting details: The workforce at our company is about 52 strong. Only around a dozen of us were given notice of our insurance start date in writing, signed by two company officers. We all completed enrollment packages for a Blue Cross HMO program. About a month later when no ID cards and packets arrived in the mail, our payroll office informed us verbally that the plan had been too expensive and was never made active. We are located in Los Angeles County and have no HR department or union.
posted by 12XU at 10:41 PM on December 15, 2004

I would consult a lawyer who specializes in employment and contract law. The California Bar Association website can help you find a lawyer. If your income is low enough, you may be eligible for free legal aid. Good luck!
posted by naomi at 6:30 AM on December 16, 2004

Be aware that you may end up killing the company and your employment there. I am NOT saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, or that it will even happen at all, just that you should consider the possibility before you choose a course of action.
posted by aramaic at 6:53 AM on December 16, 2004

Thanks for the links naomi. The 2nd one in particular provided a very helpful phone number.

And aramaic, my employer has done an excellent job of running the business into the ground, so continued employment probably won't be an issue. Good advice all the same.
posted by 12XU at 10:16 AM on December 16, 2004

12XU: Could you post a followup, maybe in Metatalk or something, once you get this all squared away?

I'm really interested to see how it pans out.

Thanks!
posted by icey at 10:24 AM on December 16, 2004

As an aspiring labor and employment attorney, I would also appreciate a follow up. You can email me (profile) if you don't want to publicly post it.

Thanks and good luck!
posted by jennyb at 3:03 PM on December 16, 2004