Help wanted: Forced into family health coverage

DEAR CARRIE: Can my employer require me to take family health-insurance coverage because I claim my children as dependents on my IRS withholding form? The company, without my approval, recently deducted money from my paycheck for a family plan, even though I had selected individual coverage. Is this legal? -- Forced Plan

DEAR FORCED PLAN: Sounds as if your employer misunderstood something and may have violated labor law as a result.

"There should not be a mandatory kids coverage requirement unless the employer is paying 100 percent of the premiums," said Susan Sajiun-Fitzharris, vice president of employee benefits at HUB International Northeast in Hauppauge.

"Since there is a comment regarding payroll deduction, it appears the employer is not paying the entire premium," she said. "Therefore, I do not see why you are being forced to take this coverage."

So where does that leave you? Send your employer an anonymous copy of this column. You would be doing yourself and your employer a great favor. You'd have more take-home pay. And you would keep your employer from violating labor laws.

For example, if the deduction takes your weekly pay below minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour, that could be a violation. And it is a definite violation for a company to deduct a premium amount for which you didn't give your written consent. 

DEAR CARRIE: I am due to have spinal surgery and will be out a minimum of two weeks. I would like to apply for disability, but the office manager doesn't have a clue about disability insurance. She would not know what to do with a completed DB-450! She spent two minutes online, then said I had to find out myself. I find this unprofessional, and disconcerting. The boss/owner is of no help either. I feel like complaining to New York State about this. What should I do? -- Info-less 

DEAR INFO-LESS: I went straight to the source for answers: The Workers' Compensation Board.

You should complete form DB-450, as you indicated, said Joe Cavalcante, a board spokesman. The form is available from employers and from the Workers' Comp website, he said. (See accompanying link.) That form must go to the employer's disability-benefits insurance carrier.

"Typically, the employee obtains the form from the employer, who completes the employer section and then files it with its insurance carrier," he said. "However, if the employer is unable to do this, the worker can send the form to the Workers' Compensation Board's Disability Benefits Bureau, and so long as we know the employer's name and address, we will forward the DB-450 to the correct insurer."

He said you should include your W-2, which helps the board to identify the employer correctly.

What do you do if your company doesn't have disability insurance?

"If the employer is not carrying disability insurance, the board will process and pay the claim, if it's deemed payable, and penalize the employer for not carrying the mandatory coverage," Cavalcante said. "Any employer or employee can contact the board, and we will explain the handling process for disability claims."

Click here to find disability forms at www.wcb.state.ny.us/content/main/forms/Forms_db_claimant.jsp

Click here for general information on benefits at www.wcb.state.ny.us/content/main/Workers/Workers.jsp