The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

appendix B | company policies regarding FMLA leave | 353
Clause 10: Health Insurance
You can terminate an employee’s health coverage if the employee is required
to pay a portion of the premium and fails to do so. However, the date that
an employee’s coverage officially terminates depends, in part, on your policies
for other types of paid leave. If your company has an established policy
that allows it to terminate coverage retroactively to the date of the missed
payment, it may do so. If it doesn’t have this type of policy, it may terminate
coverage effective 30 days after the missed payment.
Clause 11: Other Benefits
If your company usually allows employee benefits to continue and accrue
during other types of leave, you have to follow that practice when an
employee takes FMLA leave. If your company usually does not continue
employee benefits during leave, you do not have to continue benefits (other
than health benefits) during FMLA leave. However, regardless of company
policy, you must restore all employee benefits to the employee upon return
from leave. The benefits must be restored to the same level as before leave
and without any requalification. For this reason, it may be easier and less
costly to simply continue the benefits during leave, regardless of company
policy on other types of leave.
You have to follow your company’s policy regarding the continuation and
accrual of benefits during paid leave for employees who substitute paid leave
for FMLA leave. So, if your company’s employee benefits continue to accrue
during paid leave, they must also continue to accrue during an FMLA leave
that is taken as paid leave.
Clause 12: Premium Payments
You can require employees to pay premiums for benefits during FMLA leave,
but you must inform them of this requirement in your policies and you
must also inform them when premium payments are due and the possible
consequences of failing to pay. You can seek reimbursement of premiums
paid by your company during leave from the employee upon return from
leave, except that your company can’t recover its premium payments if the
employee fails to return from paid leave.