Health Care Reform Update

Coverage for Adult Children

 
Under the recently passed federal health care reform, the Affordable Care Act, adult children are now eligible for coverage under their parent's insurance until the age of 26. The Department of Labor posted the following information explaining the dependent coverage component of the Act:

Fact sheet
The Regulation
Frequently Asked Questions 

The Fact Sheet explains some of the key elements of regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury. For example, adult children under the age of 26 are eligible even if they no longer live with their parents, are not dependents on their parents' tax return, or are no longer students. The policy applies equally to young adults who are both married and unmarried.

Source: HRCalifornia Extra-5/20/2010
 

HR Strange But True! 

	Co-worker ate the cheese off the pizza box at a company meeting
	Co-worker talks openly about flatulence.
	Co-worker in the cubicle next to me wears 3-D glasses with the lenses removed.
	Co-worker repeatedly bangs a mallet on the table for no apparent reason.
	Co-worker whistles 8 hours a day.
	Co-worker chews tobacco and spits it into empty soda bottles.
	Former boss brought a baby sippy cup to a meeting and started drinking out of it.
	Co-worker cleaned fingernails using a counterpart's business card while sitting in their office.

The question is, what should co-workers do if their co-worker's behavior bothers them? 

"Today's workplace is made up of many different types of people and sometimes, behavior can come across as being crazy or inappropriate for the office," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. "Communication is key to dealing with co-workers' behavior that may be impacting your ability to produce good work – for whatever reason. It is important to identify why their behavior is bothering you. Often, having a professional conversation with your co-worker will solve the problem and allow everyone to work in harmony." 

If a professional conversation would be too mature/uncomfortable for some workers, SoAnnoying.com has created "Annoy-a-Grams," which allow workers to tell a co-worker about a bothersome behavior while staying anonymous.

 As an HR manager, you are probably running through scenarios in which an employee puts the organization at risk by sending something that is offensive to a co-worker, especially since it can be done anonymously. The website's terms of service do state that users are prohibited from sending anything that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, bullying, or harassing, And the Annoy-A-Gram application itself reminds users "Don't be mean; the purpose of the gram is to alert others of irritating behaviors that you would ordinarily feel awkward about addressing in person." Do those rules put your mind at ease?

Sources: CareerBuilder.com and SoAnnoying.com 

Workplace "Discrimination"
 Not Always Against the Law

"My employee says her supervisor is discriminating against her. She says he gives her all the hardest assignments, and when she goes to him for help he is sarcastic and rude, but she does not know why. Is this illegal?"

Unfortunately, nobody says you get to have a delightful day at work every day, or that your boss has to be nice to you. While the situation you are describing may be unpleasant for the employee, it may also be perfectly legal.

'Discrimination' Definition

Employees often throw around the word "discrimination," but may not know what that word truly means in a legal sense. Discrimination is simply treating someone differently based on the group, class or category to which that person belongs.

Managers need to know that discrimination is illegal only if it is based on a group, class or category specifically protected by law, or if it is done in retaliation for exercising a legal right such as filing a workers' compensation claim. 

For example, discrimination based on a person's sex, race, national origin or age is clearly illegal. Demoting an employee because he/she has exercised his/her right to take family leave to bond with a new baby would be against the law. Similarly, it is unlawful to refuse to give a raise to an employee who has otherwise earned it but who takes time off work each week to attend religious services.

Legal ‘Discrimination'

On the other hand, discrimination based on other characteristics or factors is perfectly legal and actually quite common. For example, one group of employees may be treated better than another based on the category of seniority, by giving employees with more seniority more vacation. 

A manager could give hiring preference to applicants who earned a degree from a University of California campus versus one from a California State University.

A company could offer a better benefits package to employees who work in its office compared to what is offered to its warehouse employees, or allow a more relaxed dress code for the warehouse employees. 

In each instance, a group or class of employees or applicants is being treated differently than another group or class, but because the distinction is not drawn based on any category protected by law, the "discrimination" is not illegal.

Identify Discrimination Type

The issue at hand for the employee who is complaining of discrimination because she gets tough assignments and has a sarcastic and rude supervisor is to find out why she thinks the supervisor is treating her that way. Unless the employee claims it is related to her race, sex, national origin or some other characteristic protected by law, or unless the employee claims it is retaliation for having exercised some legal right (such as reporting a safety violation to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), there is no illegal discrimination. More often, the employee will say something like "I just think he doesn't like me."

Of course, regardless of whether there is illegal discrimination, an employer would be wise to look into the supervisor's behavior and determine whether the company would benefit by providing him counseling in more appropriate personnel management techniques. While his behavior may not be illegal, it certainly does not create a productive work environment and could lead to meritless, but expensive, legal claims.

Source: Ellen S. Savage, HR Advisor - The Labor Law Helpline - California Chamber of Commerce www.hrcalifornia.com