As an employer, you have a huge variety of responsibilities. Personnel issues are among the most complex and frustrating. Our goal at Teague Financial/Teague Benefits is to continually expand our resources, services and knowledge to assist you with all your human resource issues.
One question we've frequently been asked this past year is "If I have an employee that leaves and then comes back, does that employee have to meet our new hire waiting period to be eligible for benefits?" The answer we are giving now is "What does your employee manual say?" Insurers do not want to see discriminating practices and if more than six months have passed since the employee was terminated, they will require a new waiting period. However, if your personnel manual states that the waiting period will be waived if less than 12 months have elapsed since the employee terminated, a copy of that to the insurer will usually suffice.
Which brings me to the point of this "tip of the year": Make sure you have a complete, thorough employee manual that is up-to-date. I update ours every two years and each new employee has to sign that she/he has received and read the manual. Even with as few employees as I have, something occurs monthly that is answered by the personnel manual. Examples include: procedure for calling in sick, jury duty allowances, vacation time allowed, eligibility for benefits, sexual harassment procedures, performance reviews, leave of absence, death in family, dress, and dozens of others. I use a program "Policies Now!" by Knowledgepoint.com that is California specific. It took me about six hours to customize a 100 page manual. The manual has saved me enormously in frustration and ill feelings. I strongly encourage you to review your employee manual, make updates as necessary, and encourage all your employees to become familiar with it.
