Benefits Want to go part time, what happens to my medical insurance?

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Jun 12, 2014
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So I want to go part time and I have health, dental, vision. What happens when my paycheck isn’t enough to cover the cost? Can I pay out of pocket?
 
Coverage wouldn't be lost until your average hours go below the minimum required to earn them. Once average hours goes below 29.5, then coverage would be lost.

It may be possible to keep the coverage after that due to Cobra laws, but that's ridiculously expensive. I'm not any kind of expert though, just hazarding a guess.
 
I believe since you are committed to the insurance until the new coverage time starts (April) you’ll be billed if your check will not cover the expenses. I have a TM that takes an LOA every year and they pay out of pocket for the 2 months they’re gone. (They only have optical and dental so their cost is much less.) Once re-enrollment comes around you can change your coverage to best fit your lifestyle and needs.
 
So I want to go part time and I have health, dental, vision. What happens when my paycheck isn’t enough to cover the cost? Can I pay out of pocket?
When you find out how much it costs to pay for health, dental and vision benefits on your own, you might change your mind about going part time. You are fortunate, a vast number of store-level TMs are ineligible for the health and vision benefits because they didn't meet the "open enrollment" requirement of averaging 29.5 hours per week over the prior 12 months.

This does raise a question: If at open-enrollment time, you ARE eligible to apply for the full benefit package (health, dental, vision) based on 29.5 hours over the previous 12 months, can you KEEP that benefit package for the remainder of the year if your hours drop below 29.5 hours/week? My impression is that if you're eligible at the time of open enrollment, you can keep all of your benefits intact until the next open enrollment (when you might not qualify) but reading some of the posts here perhaps my reading of this is incorrect. Like many hourly TMs with limited availability due to other jobs, I have averaged over 20 hours/week but less than 29.5, I qualify for PARTIAL benefits like dental and vacation (but no vision or paid holidays).
 
Get a better gig. It's so simple for a TL or ETL to fuck you over so you lose benefits. It happens and more frequently than you can imagine. You have a normal family life, your TL has a fucked up family life, an addiction, anything that could remotely prompt the slightest bit of jealousy, and you're fucked. You young folks have to realize this. It's historic, it's been this way for decades. Offer your talents elsewhere where you'r treated fairly and honestly. I sincerely hope Medicare is there for you when you grow up.
 
Given the reality of the working world, from a mental-health and financial perspective I sometimes think of this concept: jobs and diapers should be changed regularly, and for the same reason.
 
@jackandcat If you qualify for full benefits but your hours drop below 29.5 you’ll keep your benefits until the next year starts. Enrollment is February/March and benefits start the beginning of April. My hours skim right around the 30/week average. Some months it’ll drop down to 28 and change, couple months down the road I’ll be just over 31.
 
Don't kid yourself, HR can get their hands on an algorithm, a program and a long term plan to gradually diminish you and your hours to dog shit with the express purpose of gently forcing one out. It's called uber passive aggressiveness.
 
@Captain Orca I don't know what kind of hellhole you worked at before, but they really did a number on you. I assure you that "jealous" TLs and ETLs with bad family lives are not bitterly plotting to strip TMs of their benefits, and HR does not dabble in algorithms and have long-term plans to diminish hours and force people out. Paranoid much?

OP said they want to go part-time. It's hardly a secret that companies prefer part-time employees because they get less benefits. Again, no dark or nefarious plotting going on. It's common knowledge and is business as usual for many companies, especially in retail.
 
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Don't kid yourself, HR can get their hands on an algorithm, a program and a long term plan to gradually diminish you and your hours to dog shit with the express purpose of gently forcing one out. It's called uber passive aggressiveness.
If my average falls below 30 and there isn’t time for me to pull it back up I’ll have a very strongly worded conversation with HR..
 
There are certainly many staff-level jobs in many industries where staff are hired on a full-time salaried basis (either as "non-exempt" overtime-eligible or "exempt"), where health benefits and other "fringe benefits" are included.

The problem mentioned here arises primarily in the retail trades industry, where a large percentage of employees are hourly-based rather than salaried. Hours and schedules fluctuate weekly. Hourly-based retail jobs are differently valued in the business world than clerical, administrative, para-professional or professional staff working in an office business environment with regular Monday-through-Friday 8-hour workdays.

At corporate level, Target has salaried full-time positions which include a more standard benefits package. Of course, you have to be qualified and desirable for hire into these full-time salaried jobs, whether as an office clerk or an accounts receivable specialist or a purchasing agent.
 
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