QUESTION
Can my benefits be taken away without notification from the employer?
Asked on Nov 11th, 2014 on Business Law - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
I have been a full time employee for 11 years and I recently decided to switch careers but was only offered part time at another facility so I now work part time at my 11 year job and part time at my new job. Since this started I've found out on my own that I will no longer get paid holiday, that I will no longer accrue vacation, and I will not longer have my 401k matched. Not having the benefits is not the problem that I have, it is the fact that I was never notified by my employer that these changes were going to occur. So I wanted to know if it was legal for them to take these benefits away without notifying me first.
1 ANSWER
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If your employer has written employment policies or a handbook, I suspect the eligibility requirements for your participation in the benefit plans are set forth there. If so, then those would provide you sufficient notice in order for you to know whether your job change or reduction in hours would jeopardize your continuing eligibility for benefits. For example, if you must work 30 hours per week in order to be eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan, and you are reducing your time to less than 30 hours per week, you should be on notice that after the change, you probably cannot continue as a participant in that plan. I don't think you'd need any additional notice from the employer to be adequately informed.
That being said, if not having the benefits is not an issue for you, why do you care about notice or lack thereof? It doesn't sound like it would have made a difference in your decision.
It is unlikely that your employer violated any employment laws in this instance.
Answered on Nov 12th, 2014 at 10:48 AM